I’m grateful to Audra Foggin for permission to share a really sweet FaceBook post from last week. Here’s what she wrote:
I have to tell you the cutest story ever about a grandgirl the other day. She was telling me, “Grandma let’s do affirmations before we go to bed: I am strong. I am brave. I am Cree. I am smart. I am kind.” Then comes, “Grandma now you say it!“ Aww!!! (she just turned 4!) Brilliance I tell you, magnificent emotional intelligence!
In salute to all of kôsisiminawak (our collective grandchildren), kôhkominawak (our collective grandmothers), and everybody else in need of a little sihkimâwasowin (encouragement), Solomon Ratt kindly agreed to provide this clever little one’s thoughts in Cree. As Audra’s grandgirl has clearly observed, they are empowering at any age!
(Thanks also to Audra for providing the totally awesome photo!)
| pasikôstâcikêwina | ᐸᓯᑰᐢᑖᒋᑫᐏᓇ | Affirmations: Grandchild Level |
| nimaskawisîn. | ᓂᒪᐢᑲᐏᓰᐣ᙮ | I am strong. |
| nisôhkêyimon. | ᓂᓲᐦᑫᔨᒧᐣ᙮ | I am brave. |
| ninêhiyâwin. | ᓂᓀᐦᐃᔮᐏᐣ᙮ | I am Cree. |
| ninihtâwihtân. | ᓂᓂᐦᑖᐏᐦᑖᐣ᙮ | I am smart. |
| nimiyohtwân. | ᓂᒥᔪᐦᑤᐣ᙮ | I am kind. |
For our first list (above), Sol chose word forms most suitable for kids. But he also explained that Cree verbs that fill the role of English descriptive adjectives are many and nuanced. So he created a second list (below), which revised the affirmations in pairs of near-synonyms, raising those beautiful grandchild affirmations all the way up to kôhkom-level:
| pasikôstâcikêwina | ᐸᓯᑰᐢᑖᒋᑫᐏᓇ | Affirmations: kôhkom Level |
| nimaskawisîn êkwa nisôhkisin. | ᓂᒪᐢᑲᐚᑎᓯᐣ ᐁᑿ ᓂᓲᐦᑫᔨᐦᑌᐣ᙮ | I am strong in body and in mind. |
| nisôhkêyimon êkwa nisôhkitêhân. | ᓂᓲᐦᑫᔨᒧᐣ ᐁᑿ ᓂᓲᐦᑭᑌᐦᐋᐣ᙮ | I am confident and courageous. |
| ninêhiyâwin. | ᓂᓀᐦᐃᔮᐏᐣ᙮ | I am Cree. |
| ninihtâwihtân êkwa nitiyinîsiwin. | ᓂᓂᐦᑖᐏᐦᑖᐣ ᐁᑿ ᓂᑎᔨᓃᓯᐏᐣ᙮ | I am clever and I am wise. |
| nimiyohtwân êkwa nikisêwâtisin. | ᓂᒥᔪᐦᑤᐣ ᐁᑿ ᓂᑭᓭᐚᑎᓯᐣ᙮ | I am good natured and compassionate. |
One Response
Beautiful share! I appreciate the work that you all do! I am trying to share my Cree heritage and birthright with my grandchildren so they will know who they are! Tapwe!