An urban Indian once more

So, somehow I have forgotten to mention that I am now living in town, as the saying goes.

The locals call it St. Paul (my friend Roberta jokingly calls it "Santo Paulo," which lets us feel like we're globe-trotters), but its Cree name is Mannawanis. It means something to the effect of 'egg-gathering place.'

This means I am now a mere 5 km away from the school, instead of about 30 km. It also means I have a few more places to see and do things when not studying Nehiyawewin. (Although, the absence of a Tim Horton's is somewhat bitterly noted.) Once again, I am staying with a Cree speaker, as well as a Cree learner who just joined the program this term. This is a bonus.

It feels good to be (relatively) urban again — as much as one can in a town of 5,000, anyway —even if it's something of a trade-off compared to the optimal experience of living and learning in a community where only the language is spoken. That said, such a situation is not widely available in nearby Saddle Lake First Nation: there, English is more/less its lingua franca, a whole other subject unto itself, one I'm not at all qualified to comment on.

ekosi,
Rick