Valerie G. Barnes Connell Jordan
Daily Herald
The Third Season of Stories of the North, an animation highlighting Indigenous culture and languages premiere’s in Prince Albert on Saturday, June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day at the John M. Cuelenaere Public Library, at 3:30 p.m.
The story follows a Cree moshum (Grandfather), teaching his granddaughters their traditional culture and language.
For Dr. Morris Cook, a Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) member, originally from Stanley Mission, who plays the mooshum; it’s about language retention.
In March the series was a finalist in the Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival in the Children’s/Youth Production category, according to an announcement on the Stories of the North Facebook page, dated March 24.
The award was for the ’We are nihithow’ episode from Season 3, written by Harmony Johnson-Harder, who is also originally from La Ronge but makes her home in Prince Albert. It was directed by Bo Shingoose.
It is the first-time nomination for both Johnson-Harder and Shingoose.
While the series started out with a wider focus on culture and language, it is become more focused, particularly on language, Cook said, in an interview with the Daily Herald.
“You know, I think gradually we’ve been focusing more on, how do we communicate the language, and at least to have the audience engaged from season to season. I think we started off fairly broad, and we began to narrow it a little with more focus on themes,” he said.
For example, one of the episodes coming out in the third season, focuses on National Indigenous People’s Day.
“(It’s) just creating a little story around that,” Cook said. “From my experiences and maybe some reflection, but, from the story writing as well – what it means to be Indigenous, the pride that we need to take on being Indigenous.”
Filming over the summer months, “makes for a busy summer,” Cook said. “It’s enjoyable, but, it’s a lot of work. I enjoy doing it. I’ll continue to do it for as long as they need me.”
For Cook, it’s the importance of “passing on the language for future generations.”
In his everyday life, Cook is the Director of the Northern Saskatchewan Indigenous Teacher Education Program (NSITEP), where he also teaches prospective Indigenous teachers.
Over the years the language is being lost, he said, adding it’s important to him and his language retention, to have his father. Their conversation is always in their native Cree, which helps him retain.
“I’m so blessed to have my father, because everything we do, say to each other, is in Cree.”
And, Cook said, Fluency is usually only found in the Elders now . Not so many will become fluent speakers.
“I’m well aware that fluency takes a lot more to come by and it will take a lot more to create fluency. Of course, fluency starts in the home. It needs to be used daily.”
Although, he said, immersion programs go a long way to addressing that (fluency). We may not create fluency in every student, but, there are some that can go beyond those classroom settings and put themselves in immersive situations, where they totally hangout with the person who speaks Cree all the time.”
With the increase in digital communication, which is easier with English; Indigenous languages, such as Cree and Dene, are threatened.
But Cook continues to explore and share his passion for his Cree language whenever he has a chance.
Shooting for the fourth season begins in August, Cook said.
“We’ve been approved to do another season, so I’m grateful for that.”
With the two other stars of Stories of the North, “aging out, ”a move is on” to hire some younger performers. No, decision have been made around that process as of press time.
Cook’s granddaughter’s, in the show, are played by Claire Walker and Mya Hoskins Fiddler.
Stories of the North is a production of Campfire Stories, a television and Video Production company, owned by Kyle Burgess and Allia Janzen, of Saskatoon.
“Stories of the North has already been renewed for a furth season at Citytv Saskatchewan and will go into production in August 2025,” Burgess wrote in a news release.
