learn from the past and communicate these stories
to early career professionals as they demonstrate
the intricacies of urban forest management and
park creation. By taking time to examine and discuss
complex issues throughout history, we can encourage
well-rounded professionals with an improved under-
standing of the importance of communication and
engagement with multiple community groups.
There is No Good Translation
for Dutch Elm Disease
Raised around Cree speakers, I am often dismayed
at my lack of functional comprehension of Cree.
Thankfully, beginning in the 1980s, Manitoba has
included Cree and Ojibway translations of forestry
terms in their government pamphlets. However,
about ten years prior, Dutch elm disease (DED) began
making its way towards Manitoba. As a commu-
nity Elder told me last year, "Unfortunately, there
is no translation for Dutch elm disease in Cree."
Early in the spring of 2022, I was called by long-
standing friend Elder Margarette, who predominantly
spoke Cree, to help see if I could assist her in deter-
mining why her community's trees were dying. Elder
Margarette told me of the brown, shriveled leaves
that persisted on several large trees which had died
in recent years. As Elder Margarette explained the
bark and branching pattern of the trees and their
brown flagging leaves, the more certain I became
that we were talking about American elm and DED.
We went through the back and forth of "sounds like
an American elm" and "no, it can't be." While the
community had received pamphlets from the provin-
cial forestry agency about DED, the pamphlets had
talked about how DED was affecting American elm.
For a community that had lived on their Traditional
Territory for thousands of years and intimately knew
their local trees, the concept of an "American elm"
was unfamiliar. How could this elm tree, located
on Traditional Territory several hundred kilometers
north of the American border, carry such a name?
I opened a 1980s publication about Manitoba's native
trees. The translation of elm to the Cree Wápiski
was met by the response of Elder Margarette's,
"Yes, that one!" Evidently, DED had made its way
into the community about four years prior. The
pamphlet's use of scientific names and colonial
common names without translation into other lan-
guages had inhibited the identification of DED in the
community, especially amongst those who predom-
inantly spoke Cree. Testing for the presence of the
vascular wilt in the trees, we were able to identify
the diseased trees, cut them down, and burn the
30 CityTREES
Vascular staining from Dutch elm disease in an American
elm (Ulmus americana). From UMass Extension Factsheet
