Moose Cree

Moose Cree is a dialect of the Cree language spoken by the Moose Cree First Nation of Manitoba, Canada. It is one of the most southerly dialects of Cree, and is considered to be part of the Swampy Cree group. The Moose Cree First Nation is located in the north-central part of Manitoba, between Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan border. According to the 2016 census, there are 1,377 Moose Cree speakers in Canada. Moose Cree is a polysynthetic language, meaning that words can be very long and complex. It is also a gender-neutral language, which is rare among languages of the world. Moose Cree is written using the Latin alphabet, with some additional characters for sounds that don't exist in English. The Cree Language Institute has developed a standardized orthography for Moose Cree, which is used in the Moose Cree First Nation's newspaper, The Moose Cree Times. Moose Cree is an endangered language, with only a handful of fluent speakers remaining. The Moose Cree First Nation is working to revitalize the language, and offers immersion courses for both children and adults.