English Language and Linguistics at Winchester

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Sask. waiter learning Cree to bridge barriers with Indigenous customers. 'It completely changed my perspective': Adam Rieger

A waiter in Prince Albert, Sask., is going above and beyond his duties by learning the Cree language to speak with Indigenous customers.

It all started when Adam Rieger was finding it hard to break the ice with Indigenous customers at the Smitty's restaurant where he works.

Rieger noticed that many of the customers who came in from the surrounding Northern communities were speaking Cree. He wanted to find a way to bridge that cultural gap.

He decided to learn a few words in Cree and ask the customers who speak the language to help him.

"Immediately people would light up and they would start talking and be excited," Rieger said. "So once I saw that initial reaction I thought, 'let's take this all the way and just keep learning and see how far I can go.'"

Rieger said some of Cree speakers get surprised when he greets them in the language, but they appreciate his efforts.

"It's been really beautiful, honestly," said Rieger.

Rieger has now gone beyond learning just a few words. He goes on Youtube to learn more on the language from Simon Bird, a fluent speaker.

"He's so good at phonetics and helping people learn how to pronounce things," Rieger said.

Rieger 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.

On the plus side, he said the new interactions he has had with customers have helped him deal with the stress that comes with a serving job, making it easier to drag himself out of bed to go to work.

He has been serving at this Smitty's location for nine months now.

"Once I started doing this and I started seeing people's reactions, it completely changed my perspective," 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."

(See full CBC news article published Nov. 17/24)

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