Mikisiw Hall shared this TikTok video a few weeks ago, and I’m pleased to see it’s still finding its way around social media. Roger Letendre’s words are timeless. Sweetgrass Elder Wes Fineday was kind enough to help me transcribe Letendre’s words from the TikTok video clip, and verify the translation. Finally, Solomon Ratt stepped up to edit the Cree text, so we can all listen and read along. (As the saying goes, It takes a village…)
You can find our transcript below the video, to listen and read along.
| Roger Letendre: Speaks for the Cree People c. 1967, 1968 | Transcribed by Arden Ogg with help from Wes Fineday, translated by Wes Fineday. Edited by Solomon Ratt |
|---|---|
| nihtâwikiwinihk | Birthplace |
| niyanân kâ-nêhiyâwiyâhk niyanân ôta kâki-nihtâwikiyâhk ôma askiy. | We that speak Cree [Cree people] we were born on this land. |
| mâcika nipakosêyimonân nîstanân, | So we are (all of us collectively) hoping as well, |
| kita-iskon(nikâtêk) ôma awiyak tahto (kâ-) pimâtisiyâhk | to be given to those of us that are alive |
| “ôma nitaskînân” ni-kakî-itwân. | “this land that is our own” I could say. |
| kâ-nihtâwikiyâhk niyanân ôta askîhk. | Those of us that were born on this land. |
| mâcika misâw ôma askiy. | [we who were born collectively on this land] |
| tawâw misiwê misâw askiy. | There is space everywhere. |
| misâw askiy. | Big land. Plentiful land. [a huge land] |
| namôya âta takî-nôtiskât(ahkik) nêhiyawak. | There will always be space for Cree people. [There will never be too little space for Cree people] |
| mâcaka takî-miyâw! | Which should be given to them! |
| takî-miyaw takî-tawîstamawâw ôta wîsta tôhpimâtisit (ta-pimâtisit). | It can be given to them. Space can be made for them to live here too. |
| [They should make room for them – there should be a place created – from which to make a living – on which they also could survive] | |
| askiy nihtâwikiwinihk. | In their own land. Birth place. |
As Wes Fineday pointed out, this is actually only a small part of a 21 minute video you can find on YouTube here. Aaron Fay’s transcription help get us this far: maybe some of my MICEC Transcription Society colleagues can help us fill in the rest. Roger Letendre deserves to be heard and understood!
p.s.: Sincere thanks to Aaron Fay for creating the transcription software that helped so much. It even has a playback speed control (for those of us with slower ears). You can find it (and try it out for yourelf) here: https://kiyanaw.net/transcribe/
