Canada is part of Indigenous history, not the other way around, or as Andrea Custer offers in Cree:
ithiniwak withawâw kayas ohci ôta kâ-ayacik môtha witha môniyâwak (th-dialect)
iyiniwak wiyawâw kayas ohci ôta kâ-ayacik namôya wiya môniyâwak (y-dialect)
“It’s the Indigenous people that have been here for a long time not the non-Indigenous Settlers.”
As we acknowledge the founding of “our home on Native land,” it’s a good time to also acknowledge the deep, deep roots of the Cree on this continent. Andrea Custer prepared this beautiful video presentation on masinipêhikêwina – or paintings on rock – for a graduate course in Indigenous Spirituality. We’re lucky to share it here with her blessing. (I particularly love the versions of the rock paintings created with the “Rock Art Enhancer” app that help make them easier to see.)
