‘Dance with the universe:’ Indigenous languages, reconciliation and the papal tour
Warning: This story deals with disturbing subject matter that may upset and trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.
According to Tom McCallum (White Standing Buffalo), when Cree-speaking peoples first saw the “black robes” kneeling down and immersed in prayer, they didn’t know what the clergymen were doing.Pointing up to the heavens, the church leaders explained, “We’re talking to Him,” said McCallum.The moment gave birth to the Cree expression for prayer, ayamihowin, which is composed of the root words ayamiha, “talking to him or her,” kakiki, “forever or perpetual,” and simo, which means “movement or dance.” Win is added to end of the word to indicate a process underway, he said.“We have a perpetual dance with the universe,” McCallum said, translating ayamihowin in an inter...