Submitted to CBC by Adam RiegerAllegedly, there is a saying among the Cree Nation that goes “listen or your tongue will keep you deaf.”
For Adam Rieger, a waiter at a cafe in Saskatchewan, it was his listening that opened up a world of human connection when he decided he should learn the language of his customers.
Smitty’s Restaurant in Prince Albert, Sask. sees its fair share of tribal members, and the personable Rieger found it difficult to connect with them.
According to an interview with CBC News, Rieger explained that when he lived in Edmonton, he made the effort to serve diners in French, something the French-speaking Canadians warmly appreciated.
Despite the obvious challenges in learning a language beyond Latin, Rieger decided to listen so as not to be deaf to the hearts and culture of his customers. He began learning Cree to take orders and welcome guests, and helped break the ice by asking tribal customers to help him with certain words.
“He has positive energy, and then when he came back to us, that’s when he told me that he’s been trying to learn Cree,” Natasha Wolfe, a Cree Nation member told CBC’s Louise BigEagle.
Wolfe shared a video of him doing his job in Cree on social media to alert Tribal members of his compassion and interest in their language.
GNN reported earlier this year on a famous polyglot Youtuber visiting Cree Nation lands and surprising the people there by speaking Cree with semi-fluency. According to the Youtuber, going by the handle Xiaomanyc, Cree is difficult even among native languages, and for this reason there is a real concern it will die out in the coming generations.
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Rieger is exactly the kind of messenger that keeps languages alive—their use in day-to-day activities.
He said his Cree is still basic, but he will keep trying to learn. He said he finds some parts of Cree challenging, like learning the written language and the alphabet. Along with speaking to the customers, Rieger, watches YouTube lessons by Cree member Simon Bird, who the waiter says is able to communicate the phonetics of the language perfectly.
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“Once I started doing this and I started seeing people’s reactions, it completely changed my perspective… immediately people would light up and they would start talking and be excited,” Rieger said. “I could see that it’s almost like the purpose of my job now became to reach people and to express love for them.”
WATCH a separate radio interview with CBC and hear from the man himself…
SHARE This Kind And Considerate Waiter’s Work On Behalf Of His Neighbors…
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