Educator shares daily Cree lessons through social media

Simon Bird teaches Cree language courses on Facebook. (Creeson Agecoutay / CTV News Regina)

REGINA — Simon Bird will never forget how his daily Cree lessons on Facebook first began. He was teaching in Morley, Alta. and his 5 year-old daughter was attending school there, learning the Stoney Nakoda language.

“I was so proud to have my little girl take the language classes. She was coming home and counting in Stoney Nakoda. That was then a sign that I needed to do a better job at teaching her Cree,” said Bird.

“The first thing I taught her was, miyokisikaw. In Cree that means, ‘It is a nice day, it’s a good day.’ And she laughed at me. 5 years-old, just a beautiful little innocent laugh and she said, ‘Daddy, it sounds like you said, may you kiss a cow.’ And it just kind of hit me like a brick wall in how smart [kids] can be. They can take something and make it memorable. In the academic sense this is called mnemonic,” said Bird.

Bird posted the same Cree lesson he and his daughter had to his own personal Facebook profile and the response was immediate. A friend then recommended he should make a Facebook group and share his lessons daily with the wider public.

“I found a lot of people who were very, very hungry to learn the language. The way nitanis [my daughter] taught me to look at the language, that non-speakers look at it, it makes it memorable and they’re able to retain it.”

Bird’s Facebook group, #CreeSimonSays now has more than 16,400 members and he shares up to five Cree lessons a day. Bird includes Cree words with its English words with pictures all created to be fun and simple lessons.

“A lot of our members in the posts are residential school survivors, they’re sixties scoop survivors, they’re language warriors and language lovers,” said Bird.

Over the years, Bird has become more creative with his posts, incorporating pop culture and movie scenes. In a video on YouTube, Bird speaks in Cree and English and uses subtitles while doing voice overs of Yoda and Luke Skywalker in a specific scene from Star Wars, Return of the Jedi. Throughout the video, Bird compares the Cree language to the Force, the metaphysical, spiritual binding and ubiquitous power that held importance for both the Jedi and the Sith.

“There’s a lot of people that have states that our language has a spirit and a lot of teachers and elders that I have come across and too believe that. It’s healing to be able to speak our language and it’s a huge part of our identity,” said Bird.

Bird recently helped with an elders gathering at the First Nations University of Canada in Regina that focused on Indigenous languages and worldviews. He also taught Cree words to audience members through a game of bingo.

“Simon has the language component of it and that was one of the things that we asked for. With all of our presenters, we wanted to hear the language first,” said Dustin Brass, the regional coordinator for the National Centre of Collaboration for Indigenous Education.

Bird is the director of education for the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, managing four schools in northern Saskatchewan. He plans to continue to give back to his community through education and will always encourage others to speak and learn the Cree language.

“Ahkameyimok. Don’t give up. Stay the course. Stay determined and keep sharing a little bit that you know and keep adding it to everything you do, every chance you get,” said Bird.