First Cry ceremony takes root in Eeyou Istchee, Northern Quebec

A newborn girl, named Legend, is passed from one person to the next, each one telling her what they will do for her in their lifetime.

This is part of theFirst Cry ceremony, welcomingnewborns to the earth in the presence of the parents' most trusted family and friends.

Danielle Mukash carries the ceremony, andLegend is her granddaughter. Danielle says it is normal that the baby cry, because she is saying goodbye to heaven for awhile.

"The First Cry ceremony has been done for thousands of years, and the reason why we do this ceremony is that a child that comes into the world is totally pure, but stillconnected to heavenWe have to honour their arrival to this world,"" saysMukash.

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Mukash grew inOdanak, anAbenakicommunity on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. Thats where the First Cryceremony was passed on to her by her grandmother, LillianPitawanakwat.

Residential schools and church leaders in some aboriginal communities banned traditional ceremonies,and many were forgotten over the past century. But through dreams and visions they are slowly making their way back intoCree culture, says Mukash.

"It had been forgotten for a long time.I know from experience that ceremonies come back to us when we need them, and they come from the Creator for all of us."

Mukash married a Cree man fromWhapmagoostui, the northern-most Cree community on the Hudson Bay coast.

When their grandchildren were born, Danielle began to perform the First Cry ceremony and since then more and more Cree people have shown an interest in the tradition. Danielle believes the ceremony may have been practised by the Cree people in the distant past but there is no way of confirming that.

Legends ceremony is only the third time in recent history that First Cryhas been performed in the Cree communities of Northern Quebec.

MatthewIserhoffis Legend's father and has taken part in other Cree ceremonies such as the Sundance. He's passionate about bringing back traditions, and learning new ones.

"The Cree word for child, wash, comes from the wordawashthahch, or light.The child comes from a place of light, the home of the Creator, to come to theeEarth."

Like her son-in-law, DanielleMukashworks to keep the traditions alive.

"All my life, my dad would tell us stories about ceremonies", she says. "It was so close to my heart, wanting to preserve all the beautiful things the Creator gave us for thousands of years."

DanielleMukashsays she hopes that more people inEeyouIstchee, the Cree territory in Northern Quebec, will adopt this powerful ceremony.

And she is open to performing First Cry for other families in her community.