Annie Whiskeychan Day

Our community celebrated Annie Whiskeychan Day this past Wednesday with a wonderful array of cultural activities including history of the Cree School Board, Moose Hide Drying, and baby-wrapping.

To give some background, Annie Whiskeychan lived in Waskaganish (another Cree community) and is one of the reasons why the Cree Language program was created and implemented in Elementary Schools throughout the Cree Nation. She is viewed as an educator, elder and innovator in Cree Language Education. It is partly thanks to Annie Whiskeychan that the Cree Language is being taught in our schools.

In honor of Annie Whiskeychan, the community came together to set up an amazing day full of activities for the students in the elementary and high school.

Typically in the morning of Annie Whiskeychan day, there is a walking out ceremony. I have written about the walking out ceremony before, but this is to honor a baby's first steps on the earth. A child has their walking out ceremony around their first birthday, and it signifies their entrance and welcoming into the Cree Culture. The babies are dressed in traditional clothing and walk out of the tent on a carpet of boughs and around a small pine. The ceremony was beautiful to watch, and it was amazing that the whole school population was present.

Our first stop of the morning was moose skinning, we got to watch a moose head get skinned and prepared to cook.

That's the biggest ear I've ever seen!

One of my favorite stops during the day was inside one of the Cree Culture Sabtuan's where we learned about wood carving and transportation. Some of the woodwork that was shown was amazing, it's hard to believe that some of the pieces were carved and sanded by students in Elementary School!

I loved the carving of the Beaver, and I learned that the name of my street means Beaver in Cree, Amisk. 

Within the past week I also learned how to make Bannock, which is a bread that is made and raised without yeast. It is very simple to make and we had the pleasure of watching and eating Bannock on a stick!

We went to two different tents to learn how to dry moose hide. Once it is skinned from the moose, it is actually white in color, but to dry it, stretch it and make it into moccasins or other forms of clothing, the hide needs to be smoked. Once smoked, it takes on a more yellowish/brown color that you will see on many moccasins or mittens. 

Moose hide being hung to dry

The tents were all laid with boughs and smelled amazing. The students loved sitting on the boughs and even rolled around in them. I loved looking up in the tent to see the sky. It was a clear day with few clouds. We were very lucky to get such amazing weather to honor such an amazing woman. 

I am very excited to be returning to this wonderful community in the Fall to teach Grade 2 and to continue learning the language and culture of this beautiful place.

Please comment with any questions you may have! 

Thank you for keeping up with my adventures in the North.

~Vicki