ABSTRACT
Pimooteewin was billed as 'the first Cree opera' when it was premiered in Toronto in February 2008. Despite recent critical controversies about the role of the Trickster in First Nations culture, the figure remains central to the work of Highway in general, and Pimooteewin in particular. The text of Pimooteewin can be seen as fitting into two quite different literary traditions-that of the opera libretto and that of Cree narrative tales. The first term is achimoowin, which means 'to tell a story' or 'to tell the truth'. The second is kithaskiwin, which means 'to tell a lie', meaning 'to weave a web of fiction', as it were. Thus in terms of Cree oral literature, Pimooteewin is an example of achithoogeewin-stories which are neither true nor false, and are draw on elements of both fiction and non-fiction to tell essential truths about Cree culture. Michael Greyeyes was charged with the responsibility of bringing Pimooteewin to the stage as the director/choreographer.
