The school musical explores the Cree language through stories and songs

Cree elder Winston Wuttunee took out his drum and invited more than 50 new friends, almost all of them sitting cross-legged on the gymnasium floor at their Winnipeg elementary school on Monday afternoon, to sing the alphabet in his native language.
“Now I know my ABC. Next time you won’t sing in shout!” he exclaimed, surrounded by a crowd of schoolchildren who burst into joy after the musical pun.
It was a fitting way to end another rehearsal for the upcoming AE Wright Community School Musical, Peynikamun Nici – a Cree expression that translates to “Sing With Me, My Friend” in English.
ETHAN CAIRNS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Cree elder Winston Wuttunee drums with AE Wright music teacher Jordan Laidlaw on guitar.
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ETHAN CAIRNS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Cree elder Winston Wuttunee drums with AE Wright music teacher Jordan Laidlaw on guitar.
On June 16, Grade 3 and 4 students from The Maples will perform what is believed to be the first public school musical to feature Cree songs and stories in Manitoba.
Wuttunee, an award-winning musician and entertainer from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, told each of the six classes participating in the year-end show a unique story. Each group has since worked on a visual representation, such as a dance or a painting, to tell their respective story alongside their teachers.
The musical will consist of storytelling, visual performances and complementary songs composed by Wuttunee and music teacher Jordan Laidlaw, the co-creators of Peynikamun Nici.
“I hope (my students) will learn things that I never learned in school,” Laidlaw said, adding that he didn’t learn the Elders’ teachings firsthand in elementary school. nor even that he knew of the existence of residential schools when he graduated from grade 12 in the early 2000s.



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“We as teachers are responsible for indigenizing our practice, for decolonizing the ways we have taught,” he added.
Wuttunee echoed those comments on Monday. And when it comes to the Cree Elder, learning an Indigenous language through song is one of the best ways to do that.
“When you have to speak another language, you really learn to listen,” he said.
Members of the community are invited to attend the free performance scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Maples Collegiate on June 16.
Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

Maggie Macintosh
Journalist
Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Winnipeg Free Press. Funding for the Free Press educational journalist comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.
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