The show stars Dr. Morris Cook (center), along with Claire Walker and Mya Hoskins Fiddler. (Submitted photo/Stories of the North)

By Derek Cornet

language promotion

Second season of Stories of the North premieres on National Indigenous Peoples Day

Jun 21, 2024 | 6:00 AM

The second season of the children’s television program Stories of the North is set to premiere Friday to coincide with National Indigenous Peoples Day.

The educational show is meant to promote the Cree language and culture, as well as life in Northern Saskatchewan. It features Dr. Morris Cook, of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, as a mooshum (grandfather), who sits on a coach and teachers his granddaughters how to speak their traditional language the way he was taught through story.

His granddaughter are played by Claire Walker and Mya Hoskins Fiddler.

While the show has segments of the three sitting on the couch and interacting in-person, it also includes animated sequences with the words producers want people to know highlighted in the episode.

“I think it really matters a lot, not only to people in my generation, but to the generation before me that are hearing less and less Cree being spoken, not only outside the public sphere, but in the home for that matter,” Cook explained.

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“I think one of the aims of the program is to start promoting the language to ensure the language is still being spoken and being heard.”

Ten episodes this season will touch on traditions such as the importance of ceremony and stories such as the Thunderbird and the Little People. All story writers and cast are Indigenous, creating authenticity and accountability in Indigenous storytelling.

“It’s not only aimed at Indigenous people, it’s good for anyone who wants to learn a few words in Cree,” Cook noted.

“We make it possible by making it fairly simple and phonetically correct as we go through the episode.”

The season two premiere of Stories of the North will debut Friday at 8:30 p.m. on Citytv. The show has already been renewed for a third season and will go into production in August 2024.

“Being part of the team that brings representation, connection and preserves language is the greatest honor and something we do not take for granted,” said producer Allia Janzen in a media release issued last week.

“That our two sons help crew this on this project, as does our co-producer Harmony Johnson’s daughter, makes the gift all the sweeter. We are inclusive and diverse with our cast and crew being primarily comprised of Indigenous or people of colour, and/or women. This has always been a goal of Campfire Stories to connect safety with creativity and inclusivity.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com