mitho-okâwîmâwi-kîsikâw
ᒥᖪ ᐅᑳᐑᒫᐏ ᑮᓯᑳᐤ
A good Mother’s Day.
mitho-okâwîmâwi-kîsikanisi,
nikâwîpan kâ-sâkihak,*
nîtha kikosis kâ-pakosîthimot ta-mamihcihisk anohc ikwa ôtî nîkân.
For to the [late*] mother I love,
From the son who hopes to make you proud now and in the future.
Thank you to Solomon Ratt for sharing this letter his late mother. Alice Ratt, sent him while he was teaching in China in 1987/88. It’s addressed to “my son, who I love.” A couple of lines say, “I see your writing. I am happy to see your writing. I am happy to see it is written in Cree (syllabics).”
When he came home to attend his late father’s funeral he met some relatives he hadn’t seen in a long time. They would say, “Oh yeah, you’re the one who writes in Cree.” Evidently Sol’s late mother would read the letters he wrote to her to his relatives.
We’re all pretty lucky to see Alice’s inspiration live on, and to help share it here. (Even when the proofreading goes on for days and days!)
* If your mother is still with you, change this phrase to “nikâwiy kâ-sâkihak”. The -pan ending that Sol uses (that linguists call a “preterite suffix” is added onto names and kinship terms of those who are no longer living.
