That’s what she used to call me, Kepin. My late grandmother of course, speaking only Cree, would only difficultly pronounce the letter v, a consonant our language does not have. I’ve always wondered why our parents insisted on giving us names our elders could not pronounce. But we are living in a world where our language and culture are increasingly forgotten, locked in the hearts of our elders as they leave this world behind. Witnessing these changes firsthand eventually compelled me to do my part and completed six years of post-secondary studies in linguistics. Although I eventually made the transition to medical school, I continue to be involved in various Cree language projects, all with the aim of promoting its use in all spheres of life.
Three projects I am particularly fond of are the Dictionary of Moose Cree, my Lexical Roots of Old Cree, and my Index of Cree Mythology. The former is a project for which I have been serving as editor and lexicographer since 2012 on behalf of the community of Moose Factory. The second is a soon-to-be published dictionary of derivational morphology of Old Cree, the ancestor of all Cree dialects, as determined by a comparative study of contemporary and historical dialects. The latter is an index of published sources for Cree mythology.
This blog is one facet of my involvement. To help promote the Cree language, its literacy, and the use of consistent orthographies, I translate non-Cree texts into various dialects of Cree. To help promote the culture, I translate Cree stories into English. My aim is to make non-Cree texts available to Cree-speakers and Cree texts available to English-speakers. I also write original stories and poems in Cree and also write essays about the language and its grammar, lexicon, dialects, and various orthographies.
ᑲᒫ ᒥᔯᔨᐦᑕᒣᒄ!
Dr. Kevin Brousseau
Publications
Brousseau, K.. (2009) Medials in the Historical Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi Dialect of Nehirawewin. Master’s Thesis. Linguistics Department, UQAM (Montreal).
Brousseau, K. (2010) Trilingual Lexicon of the Fauna and Flora of Iynu Asciy. Cree Research and Development Institute.
Brousseau, K. (2011) La lexicographie des dialectes cris, innus, naskapis et atikamekws au Québec. Les langues autochtones du Québec: Un patrimoine en danger. Presses de l’Université du Québec.
Bishop, J. E.; Brousseau, K. (2011) The End of the Jesuit Lexicographic Tradition in Nêhirawêwin: Jean-Baptiste de la Brosse and his compilation of the Radicum Montanarum Silva (1766-1722). Historiographia Linguistica, vol. XXXVIII, No. 3. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Brousseau, K. (2013) Trilingual Lexicon of the Fauna and Flora of James Bay (second edition). Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute.
Brousseau, K.; Collette, V. (2014) A Dictionary of Moose Cree: Cree – English. Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute & Moose Cree First Nation.
Brousseau, K. (2014) Foreword. Bringing Home Animals (second edition), by Adrian Tanner. ISER Books.
Brousseau, K. (2015) Dictionary of Moose Cree: Cree-English (second edition). Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute & Moose Cree First Nation.
Brousseau, K. (2015) Cree: The People’s Language (museum exhibit). Canadian Language Museum. Advisors, Gold, E. et al.
York, F.; Collette, V.; Brousseau, K. (2016) Les verbes de parole en cri de l’Est. Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, vol. XLVI, No. 2-3.
Bishop, J; Brousseau, K. (2018) I Speak Cree, Not Innu: Ethnically United, Ethnonymically Divided? Engaging with Diversity. Multidisciplinary Reflections on Plurality from Quebec. Edited by S. Gervais, R. Iacovino, & M. Poutanen. Peter Lang Publishing.
Brousseau, K. (2019) A Dictionary of Moose Cree: Cree-English/English-Cree (third edition). Moose Cree First Nation.
As Translator
Cheechoo, S.; Brousseau, K. (2018) ᐁ ᐙᐸᐦᑕᒧᓕᐙᓂᐗᐦᒃ ᐃᔅᑰᓕᐦᒃ (Translation of Show & Tell, by Robert Munsch) Annick Press.
Cheechoo, S.; Brousseau, K. (2018) ᑰᐦᑰᔕᒃ (Translation of Pigs, by Robert Munsch) Annick Press.
Cheechoo, S.; Brousseau, K. (2018) ᑣᒪᔅ ᐅᐱᐳᓂᓲᑎᒻ (Translation of Thomas’ Snowsuit, by Robert Munsch) Annick Press.
Cheechoo, S.; Brousseau, K. (2018) ᐗᐌᔑᐦᐅᓇ ᑳ ᑮᔥᑴᓈᑾᐦᑭ (Translation of Makeup Mess, by Robert Munsch) Annick Press.
In the News
2019
The Nation
Introducing Eeyou Istchee’s newest medical school graduate
2018
Northern Ontario Medical Journal
‘Believe in your potential for success’
2017
Le Devoir
Le cri: les langues sans frontières
2016
Canadian Art
Can One Font Represent All of Canada?
2015
CBC
Cree stories translated into English, fairy tales into Cree: Translated folklore from English and Cree could help bridge generation gap
CBC North Interview (aired August 24, 2015)
Language Portal of Canada
Fairy tales and Fables in Cree
Global Voices
(Arabic) قصص ليلى والذئب وحكايات أخرى متوفرة الآن بلغة كري
(English) Readers Can Now Enjoy Little Red Riding Hood and Other Fairy Tales in the Cree Language
(French) Lire « Le petit chaperon rouge » en langue cri
(Indonesian) Saat ini pembaca dapat menikmati membaca cerita Gadis Berkerudung Merah dan dongeng lainnya dalam Bahasa Cree
(Italian) Cappuccetto Rosso e altre fiabe tradotte in lingua cree
(Japanese) クリー語で楽しむ「赤ずきんちゃん」
(Spanish) Los lectores de cree ya pueden disfrutar de “Caperucita Roja” y otros cuentos en este idioma
Kepin's Cree Language Blog 
The very old stories, Âtayôhkan as you call them are actually a Cree perspective on a prehistoric past. The connections between northern Quebec Cree and even Algonquian peoples as far west as the Cheyenne and Blackfoot can easily be link in these stories. Eldon Yellowhorn, studying under Bruce Trigger did a Phd thesis on the ancient stories of his Pikani Blackfoot people and certain archaeological pottery findings, with the result that he was able to propose a chronological date for certain ancient stories. There are certain stories, for example, about Memegwesu that are still told throughout the Boreal Forest as far west as northern Alberta.
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