Six birds are currently vying to become the official bird of Regina. Dr Ryan Fisher, a curator at Royal Saskatchewan Museum, thought we should all know their names in Cree. We couldn’t agree more, so we are delighted to help. Without giving away which one is our favourite favourite, here are their names, in Cree (th-dialect) courtesy of Solomon Ratt:
y-dialect audio:
th-dialect audio:
| English | y-dialect (SRO) | y-dialect (syllabic) | th-dialect (SRO) | th-dialect (syllabic) |
| Canada Goose | niska | ᓂᐢᑲ | niska | ᓂᐢᑲ |
| Grey Partridge | pihêw | ᐱᐦᐁᐤ | pithîw | ᐱᖩᐤ |
| Black Capped Chickadee | picikîskosîs | ᐱᒋᑮᐢᑯᓰᐢ | miskomâskikanîsîs | ᒥᐢᑯᒫᐢᑭᑲᓃᓰᐢ |
| Red Breasted Nuthatch | mihkomâskikanêsîs* (*name proposed by Solomon Ratt) | ᒥᐦᑯᒫᐢᑭᑲᓀᓰᐢ | miskomâskikanîsîs | ᒥᐢᑯᒫᐢᑭᑲᓃᓰᐢ |
| Peregrine Falcon | kêhkêhk | ᑫᐦᑫᕽ | kîhkîk | ᑮᐦᑮᐠ |
| Pelican | cahcahkiw | ᒐᐦᒐᐦᑭᐤ | cahcahkiw | ᒐᐦᒐᐦᑭᐤ |
Each of the six finalists is championed by its own (human) advocate(s), whose positions are being collected by CBC Regina’s Morning Edition (to be shared here as they’re collected).
Learn more about the contest at https://beheard.regina.ca/bird-city-regina.
To vote:
Votes are being recorded at beheard.regina.ca the between 30 November and 10 December; the big reveal is expected around National Bird Day, 5 January 2024.
Here’s the list of six finalists, along with links to the champions who squawked, cheeped, or honked their praise via CBC Regina’s Morning Edition with Stephanie Langenegger:
- Black Capped Chickadee – Dr. Ryan Fisher
- American Pelican – Nelson Bird
- Peregrine Falcon- Jordan Rustad
- Red Breasted Nuthatch – Cheryl Stadnichuk
- Grey Partridge – Saida Abdulaziz, Cash McNab, Leo Dustyhorn, Rose Reid and Athan Knipfel-Severight
- Canada Goose – Trevor Herriot
One Response
the grey partridgeis not a native bird.