Cree Literacy Network

Treaty 6 Recognition Day commemorates the signing of Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton in 1876. This was a deal between the Plains Cree, Woods Cree, Nakota Sioux, Saulteaux, and Dene people and the Crown. To mark this day – 149 years into the relationship – here is a re-post from 2013, in which the late Tyrone Tootoosis, Sr. assembled details of the Treaty Six flag, including the flag song, and those indelible words in Cree as repeated by the late Jim Kâ-Nîpitêhtêw – meant to capture the depth and permanence of the commitment from both sides.

Late Tyrone wrote: 

“For as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow” are acceptable in English, but extend a more powerful connotation when expressed in the Cree language in ceremonial context. The phrase is given in Cree by the late elder Jim Kâ-Nîpitêhtêw in his oral history of Treaty Six”:

iskoyikohk pîsim ka-pimohtêt, iskoyikohk sîpiy ka-pimiciwahk, iskoyikohk maskosiya kê-sâkikihki.  (SRO)

ᐃᐢᑯᔨᑯᕽ ᐲᓯᒼ ᑲ ᐱᒧᐦᑌᐟ, ᐃᐢᑯᔨᑯᕽ ᓰᐱᕀ ᑲ ᐱᒥᒋᐘᕽ, ᐃᐢᑯᔨᑯᕽ ᒪᐢᑯᓯᔭ ᑫ ᓵᑭᑭᐦᑭ᙮

“so long as the sun shall cross the sky, so long as the rivers shall run, so long as the grass shall grow.”

Click through to the original post for detailed description of the symbolism encoded in the Treaty Medallion as well as the flag. You will also find a link to Northern Cree’s Treaty Six Flag Song. 

You can read Jim Kâ-Nîpitêhtêw’s complete telling of the story of Treaty Six in the collection of his stories collected by the late Freda Ahenakew, and published by University of Manitoba Press: https://www.amazon.ca/The-Counselling-Speeches-Jim-Ka-Nipitehtew/dp/088755648