Weber-Pillwax, C. (2001) Orality of northern Cree indigenous worlds. Canadian journal of native education (25)2. 149-165

I turned to this article to explore the concept of orality and orality consciousness that I struggled with in the Friedel (2011) referenced in post one for this module.  E-mail discussion with Heather McGregor and Dr. Marker helped clarify, and post to was a recommendation by Dr. Marker, but I wanted to deepen my understanding further; this article was selected for that purpose.

Weber-Pillwax’s article connects well to the early modules of ETEC 540 where orality is explored, particularly through Ong’s (1982) work on orality as a (very) complex state of being, or consciousness, including thought patterns, ceremonies, story-telling, dancing and singing.  Weber-Pillwax builds on this definition and concurrently critiques Havelock’s (1986) analysis of the transition from primary orality to literacy to build an understanding of the northern Cree world-view and sense of identity rooted in orality, especially the understanding of and participation in traditional society and spiritual events–even if the language is not understood!

A significant portion of this article is dedicated to the English translation of “wihkotowin” and “macisimowin,” which are different ceremonies but both typically translated as “tea dance.”  The discussion of the translations is centred around “tea dance” for wihkotowin as an oral translation, because those requiring a translation could not fully understand the meaning held within the word and participation in the ceremony as outsiders, and “tea dance” for macisimowin as a literate translation, because it adequately describes what happens at the ceremony celebrating a special event such a as a birthday. A (better?) literate translation of wihkotowin would be “dance of the ancestors.”  This ceremony includes the opening of a bundle to signify the bringing into consciousness and the community, the spirits of those who have gone before, grandmothers, grandfather and ancestral spirits.

Off topic of my immediate reason for reviewing this article, but more directly aligned with my research paper, is the notable absence of a place-based identity, as so eloquently described in Basso’s work (see Module 3 Post 2).  Presumably, this is for two reasons.  The first is that the intention of the article was to elucidate orality, though I am not satisfied with this as my understanding is that place-based identity is so central to most Indigenous world views that it could not casually be omitted from any sense of identity.  The second reason, and one that I am more likely to believe, is hidden in the brief history of the northern Cree with which Weber-Pillwax prefaces the article.  In this history, she describes the elders’ fascination with a small turtle that she brought back from the city.  Though not native to the area, the turtle is an important part of the collective memory.  How did it get there?  The northern Cree people are part of a group of Cree that originated in Ontario and Quebec (turtles’ natural habitat) and moved west to Alberta, possibly with the fur trade, to displace the Blackfoot and Dene who inhabited the area first.  Because the northern Cree have not inhabited their current region for the 5000+ years that other Indigenous groups have lived in their traditional territories, their oral histories do not reference the land around them in the ways that others do.

Havelock, E. (1986) The muse learns to write: Reflections on orality and literacy from antiquity to the present. New York: Yale University Press

Ong, W. (1982) Orality and literacy. London: Routledge