Names
Etymologically, pimicikamāk and related terms were understood as connoting "flowing across". This is widely presumed to be the origin of the name of Cross Lake in Pimicikamak territory. "Pimicikamak" is the collective singular name for the whole people and also the collective name for its traditional territory. Grouped as part of the closely related Rocky Cree, Pimicikamak refer to themselves as Nahathaway (nīhithawī) (those who speak our language) or ithiniwi (real people); they called themselves "Cree" only when speaking English or French. Canada's history of suppressing indigenous languages, including aboriginal peoples' use of their own names such as "Pimicikamak", was controversial until 2008, when Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper publicly acknowledged and apologized for this policy. The name "Pimicikamak" appears to have entered into English-language usage by Cree-speakers in the 1990s. "The Pimicikamak Cree Nation" is a polyglot and imprecise description of Pimicikamak, not a name. It is also known in English as "the Cross Lake Band", a description that may be confused with the Cross lake Band of Indians (now known as the "Cross Lake First Nation").
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Famous quotes containing the word names:
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Mebbe I’m wrong to take it as I do.
There ain’t no names quite like the old ones, though,
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One mustn’t bear too hard on the newcomers,
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