A free lesson in Cree

Rain delay! We had to wait an extra day to depart from Cross Lake due to (sigh) rain.

So, I decided to spend my time boning up on my Cree. In my limited travels, I've always had a special talent for mangling the lingua franca into embarrassing (and often hilarious) utterances.

Determined never to say "thank you" in English and have the locals hear "I like falafel" yet another time, I enlisted the help of some friends here in Cross Lake to point out some potential pitfalls lurking in the Cree lexicon.

Wouldn't you know it? I even learned some things along the way. Hopefully you will too.

A few examples I learned: "Apo chikask" means "He's waiting by the lake," a fairly common phrase in a place called Cross Lake. A similar word, "Apochikoni" means "Do a somersault!"

Here's another good one: the translation of "Isinihkaso Adam" is "His name is Adam." Can you guess what "Isinakoso atim" means? If you guessed "He looks like a dog," you guessed correctly. I've decided to stop letting Dave introduce me.

A potential social disaster: "ntotem" means "my friend." "Notin," on the other hand, means "Fight him!" It's important to know the difference if things are about to turn ugly.

But, perhaps this common mispronunciation most applies to the author of this article; "Neyinowew" means "He speaks Cree." Since I don't speak Cree (at least not yet a preschool level), "nikinikew" would be a more descriptive statement. Translation: "He is milking cows."

Sadly, this is less than a scratch on the surface of potentially humiliating linguistic missteps, so I will probably still be safely embarrassing myself for years to come.

After all, I speak English best, because I am an Kischi mohkomanak (American). Or is that a kischikanesis (chickadee)?