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The following message is a copy of an email I sent to CBC concerning the singing of the National Anthem in Cree on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, Feb 3. I am hoping that others feel the same way as I do and will write to CBC suggesting that they address this inappropriate decisions on their part and that they give Akina Shirt another chance to sing the anthem in Cree in Toronto!

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Sent to CBC - Saturday, Feb 3 by David Fiddler ...

I'm a big fan of hockey and HNIC but right now I don't even feel like watching it. Tonight was to be a very proud moment for First Nations across Canada, where the National Anthem was sung in the Cree language by a 13 year old in the game between Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. I was sitting with my family waiting to watch " O Canada " sung in our language. It was very disappointing, to say the least, that it was not broadcast. Instead, there was steady stream of commercials while this event was happening.  I can't help but feel that we as First Nations are, again, being marginalized and CBC should be ashamed for their role in this. CBC must do something immediately to rectify this wrong. We had conducted a publicity campaign on the internet and locally to encourage people to watch this very important event for our people.
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I did end up seeing the short taped portion during the intermission that provided us with one line of the song. I don't feel this did justice to what it could've been for all of us. I  feel CBC should do more to rectify this situation, perhaps by arranging to have Akina Shirt appear on another broadcast of HNIC, in Toronto (a much bigger market providing more exposure).

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From http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070203/cree_anthem_070203/20070203?hub=Canada

Cree teen sings 'Ka Kanatahk' for hockey fans
Feb. 3 2007 - CTV.ca News Staff

A Cree teenager became the first to sing O Canada -- or Ka Kanatahk -- in the Cree language at the start of an NHL hockey game.

Akin Shirt, 13, of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation performed in front of about 20,000 fans before the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks faced off Saturday night at Calgary's PenGrowth Saddledome.

"Cree is a beautiful language and it's spoken among aboriginals across Canada and it's great to have this exposure on a language and for me to share this with canadians," she told reporters after an afternoon rehearsal.

"Each time I hear her, it brings a lot of emotion inside," said her mother, Jean Cardinal.

Shirt actually lives in Edmonton with her parents. She's a Grade 8 student at the Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts there.

Besides participating in three choirs, Shirt takes guitar lessons. She counts Inuit singer Susan Aglukark as a role model.

While this was her first time in front of an NHL crowd, Shirt performed the anthem in front of the Saddle Lake Warriors junior B hockey team last year.

In fact, she turned into something of a good-luck charm for them.

"Whenever I sang for them, they won, so I'm 6 and 0 right now ... I'm hoping I can go for seven wins," Shirt said.

If you're wondering what side she was on, Shirt was wearing a Calgary Flames jersey.

How did she get her shot at the big time?

Chief Eddy Makokis of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation happened to be playing golf with one of the Flames owners last summer.

"We asked general manager Darryl Sutter to see if they could get her in," he said.

The Flames asked for an audition tape.

"I thought my goodness, this is going to be wild," said Geordie MacLeod, a spokesman for the club. "She sounded great of course."