The Cree community

Numa semana que irá assinalar o Dia da Cultura Indígena, apresentamos um cheirinho sobre a comunidade Cree, nativos Woodland de Hudson Bay, Canadá. O texto, em inglês (com tradução em comentário), insere-se numa investigação de mestrado, cuja continuidade, ao nível de doutoramento, levou a autora já este ano a visitar reservas, museus, centros e a contactar a escritora nativa Jeannette Armstrong.

Texto e fotografia Susana Amante

It is now common sense that the nomenclature “Indian” resulted from the miscalculation of an early European explorer’s desire[1] of discovering the sea-route to India. Consequently, the various communities, each one with their particular habits, ways of living and languages, were christened in their own land, being labelled under this same racist[2] name.

However, even recognising each tribe’s uniqueness, it is an unquestionable truth that some of them have shared common traits, traditions and beliefs, as it is the case of the Woodland Natives, to which the Cree belonged.

From a broad point of view, the Cree community led a nomadic lifestyle, travelling to and from harvesting areas and living off the land, for most of the year. Winter was the trapping season and, thus, during those months, hunters followed game, including caribou herds, moose, beaver and buffalo. During summer time, they harvested and preserved fish, berries and other food staples.

Due to the fact that nature provided everything they needed, the native communities regarded the Mother Earth as being invested with sacred meaning. Contrary to the white individuals, who have tended to view human beings as having dominion over all the creatures on soil, sea and sky, the First Nations have not considered themselves as the brute masters of creation, but as the brothers of all life, as Miller (1991: 466) declares: «The non-natives (…) believe the world is God’s gift to them to exploit. From a different tradition native Canadians have acquired a contrasting outlook. They see humans as merely one of the creatures with whom they are interconnected. If they are created in the Great Spirit’s image, then so too are the beaver, streams, and forests. (…) Indigenous peoples and European newcomers hold to profoundly different views of the world and the place of humans in it: the former are cooperative and compatible with the environment, the latter competitive and destructive».

Spiritual worldview

What is more, as noted in the quotation above, Indigenous people, and the Cree in particular, have relied upon the existence of a creative force, the Great Spirit, whom, due to the genderless nature of Cree linguistics, is both female and male, because she/he can only be referred to in non-gendered terms. They have also believed in manitous, that is, spirits wielding a powerful influence over human events and visiting tribal shamans in prophetic dreams and visions. In turn, these last entities, the shamans or medicinemen, rendered their services to tribesmen, performing miraculous deeds and cures, while conducting various kinds of ceremonies.

While referring to the spiritual worldview of the Indigenous peoples from Canada, one shall not forget the role of the Trickster, a clownish figure, who is the personification of human ambiguity and the celebration of life. This supernatural being has appeared in many legends and stories as a form of entertainment or instruction. In fact, it is important to stress that storytelling has been a cornerstone of the First Nations’ identity. As a consequence, folktales have been passed down through the generations “(t)o entertain listeners of all ages, to instruct the young, to preserve history and rituals and beliefs” inherent to each native community, as Clark (1967: xi) points out.

Just like the Earth, life itself and stories, whose circular structure is so common, time has also been regarded by native peoples as a nonlinear continuum, as opposed to the Euro-American thought.

Another aspect that we must retain is the importance of language, as a way of reclaiming the past and envisioning the future. Actually, a language is a vehicle of culture and, as a result, when a people lose their language, they tend to lose their cultural identity.

Works cited: Clark, Ella Elizabeth. 1967. Indian Legends of Canada. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Limited. Miller, J.R. (ed.). 1991. Sweet Promises: A Reader on Indian-White Relations in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Todorov, Tzvetan. 1999. The Conquest of America: The Question of the Other. Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma Press. [1] That European explorer and navigator was Christopher Columbus and, according to Tzvetan Todorov’s The Conquest of America: The Question of the Other (1999: 10), “(i)nfinitely more than gold, the spread of Christianity is Columbus’s heart’s desire…” [2] As far as I am concerned, labelling the diverse Native communities “Indian” was a racist practice, because it implied a separation of race based on political, economic and cultural interests, by the settlers of the new nations.