Cree Syllabics Tiles

These tiles were painted by Wolfgang Baumann and Tim Rasmuson,
instructors at Mashwachees Cultural College, Hobbema, Alberta. We
asked for and received permission for the project from the Dean of
Culture.

Cree Syllabics are the writtem form of the Cree language.  Their exact
origin is in dispute.  Some claim that an Evangelical Missionary
invented them so that the Bible could be read in the language of the
people while others claim that the Elders shared the language with the
missionary who then stole the credit.

You may notice that the last few tiles are different.  These small
marks are known as finishers in English and serve to add extra sounds
to the main sounds.  In is important to note that the finisher is
placed after the symbol BUT changes the initial or starting sound of
the main sound.  For example, the sound 'wa' is made by adding the 'w'
finisher after the 'a' symbol.  This reversal of order, which is
confusing to the European mind, points at the aboriginal origin of the
symbols rather than the European creation of the syllabics.