Cree

If First Nations interest you, maybe read the article "Focus, obviation, and word order in East Cree."

I read the work "Semantic and Pragmatic Functions in Plains Cree Syntax."

Of Native Canada, my favourite languages are Haida, Inuktitut, and Cree.

On Lulu Island, I know several people who have heritage from the Cree, a First Nations people from the Prairies.

My favourite native languages in Canada are Haida, Inuktitut, and Cree. In Mexico, my favourites are Classical Nahuatl and Yucatec Maya. In South America, my favourites are Quechua, Guarani, and Hixkaryana. I feel "magic" as I read about these themes. Amerindian lifestyle and languages are a recurring fantasy for me.

In the grey-sky morning of the 31st of March of 2023, Greg and I, both Filipinos, talked at the teahouse on Lulu Island. Greg by then had already finished his coffee, and I had just ordered my Iced Black Tea. Greg bought two bags of Dried Apple Chips, one of which he gave generously to me. We discussed in Tagalog many things like the romanticization of history, Inuit, Cree Indians, Alberta where he lived before, and evolution. Greg still did not believe in evolution, and I mentioned the Filipino creation myth in which from bamboo out came a man and a woman. We both learned this legend in school. I went to the pizzeria to have a slice and a Diet Coke. The owner, the Sri Lankan Tamil named Tharsan, was at the cashier. He lived in Vancouver, not here on Lulu Island. He had a girlfriend, also Sri Lankan. At my table, I read a Japanese fantasy book, Kudaketa Monshou, or Crumbled Coat of Arms. In my red fanny pack, I also had an Esperanto Mini Dictionary.

If the idea of “exotic” and complex languages with features you’ve never imagined thrills you, I guarantee you’ll get more out of studying Navajo, American Sign Language, Kikuyu, Vietnamese, Cree, Cantonese, Quechua, or Nuuchahnnulth than Quenya, Klingon, or attempting to make your own.