Cree Literacy Network

Every December, singing for Christmas and singing to learn Cree go hand in hand, especially in classrooms full of starry-eyed kids. Not long ago, someone on FaceBook asked for a Cree version of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Since I couldn’t find one in our collection, I decided to attempt a translation. I roughed together some notes, then sought help, first from Solomon Ratt, and then from Dorothy Thunder. With their help, I’m pleased to offer this new Plains Cree interpretation (with all good Christmas wishes, of course).

As we went through the song together, we discussed how the original is a celebration of the English tradition of carolling (or “mumming”), where carollers go door to door spreading Christmas cheer. Of course, in the English tradition, the carollers are good-natured, but also cheeky and demanding: “Bring us some figgy pudding;” “We won’t go until we get some.” (Enough said.) We decided that a new interpretation should honour Cree cultural values of giving and sharing, so we changed accordingly, as you’ll see below.

Thanks also to artist Dawn Marie Marchand for permission to share (and modify) her miniature (Christ)Moose painting.

I’m including my own audio recording strictly for teaching purposes. Remember, I’m a môniyaw, and a learner, too, so I’m sure I sound funny: adjust your pronunciation accordingly. And if you – as a real speaker and/or singer, or teacher with a class of kids – make a new recording, please send it so we can add your example to this post. (Note that we’ve used parens in the Cree roman to show syllables that get dropped out in faster speech – or to fit the melody).