Miyupimaatisiiun

Miyupimaatisiiun is the Cree concept of health and translates roughly into living well and being healthy. We chose this as the title for this week’s post because we are learning about the Cree approach to healthcare and wellness. Also, since this week was Chisasibi’s annual pow-wow, we learned that many different symbols and components of the pow-wow represent healing, balance, and well-being.

The medicine wheel is a symbol that represents teachings regarding the Cree way of viewing the world and its cycles and a person’s stages of life and different components of well-being. Image retrieved from http://www.pbcfs.net/fwellness.html.

This week we had the opportunity to meet with Mimie Neacappo, a Cree linguist. She taught us a bit about the history of the Cree language and the origins of different dialects spoken in Quebec. We discussed some particularities of the Cree language and asked her some of our questions about the differences between Cree and English. We are looking forward to reading Mimie’s Master’s thesis, which is about how descriptions of the land, navigation, and orientation in space are formulated in Eastern Cree.

Leah arranged videoconference meetings with the special needs educators in Whapmagoostui. We will soon be presenting our intervention plans to them and discussing activities they can use at the daycare to work on the speech and language goals we have identified.

Alexandra finished selecting the vocabulary and putting together a prototype for a low-tech augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device for one of her clients. She had the chance to present it to her client, explain its use, and help her client practice using it to communicate.

A lot of our projects are coming to a close and we are starting to notice that our internship is almost finished. The nostalgia is already starting to set in!

Naomi and Jacob Martin, from Six Nations, in their regalia.

It was our last weekend in Chisasibi, and once again it was pretty busy. This weekend was Chisasibi’s annual pow-wow. Dancers and drummers come from all over North America to participate in the pow-wow. Several different drum circles rotated throughout the event so that dancers could dance all day. For the duration of the pow-wow, fire-keepers are responsible for keeping the sacred fire burning in the pow-wow’s teepee. We visited the event a few times to enjoy the performances and taste the delicious food.

Mona Tolley, from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, in her jingle dress.

We were amazed to see all of the dancers’ beautiful regalia and dresses. We were told that the different types and parts of the regalia each have a different significance to the dancers and their communities. For example, the jingle dresses are traditionally used for healing dances.

Since we finally had nice weather during the weekend, we were able to enjoy the end of the beautiful sunset on James Bay, and later on, we had an excellent view of the Northern lights.

Trust us, this photo does not do it justice!

We are already starting to say our goodbyes since we are leaving next week. Before we left, we wanted to thank our friends the Stewarts for all the times they invited us to dinners and celebrations in their mitchuap (teepee) and cabin. We cooked a feast for them over the fire in their mitchuap and spent the evening hearing stories and gossip. We were honored to receive the compliment of being good cooks!