Learning Cree: Reclaiming Language, One Word at a Time

When I was little, I heard Cree in the background: in the kitchen with my kokum, whispered in prayers at funerals, or in the laughter of aunties teasing each other. I didn’t realize then that I was hearing something sacred. Something stolen, silenced, and now being revived.

As a medical student from a small Indigenous community in Northern Alberta, I’ve spent years learning Latin-based medical terms. But now, I’m making space in my brain and heart for Cree words. Because our language is medicine, too.

Our ancestors spoke Cree before colonization tried to erase it. For many of us, including me, we grew up hearing bits and pieces but were never fully fluent. Reclaiming language is an act of resistance and love. Language isn’t just vocabulary. It carries teachings, kinship, humour, land-based knowledge, and healing.

Some days I mess up. Some days I forget. But every day I’m unlearning the shame that came with not speaking Cree.

Imagine hearing your language in a clinic after generations of being punished for speaking it.

Because one day, I want to be the kind of doctor who can say to a Kokum, Ka-miyo-pimohtêyân. I walk in a good way.

With love and heart,

Chyna