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.
Adam Rieger noticed that many of the customers who came into the Smitty’s he works at in Prince Albert, Sask., from the surrounding Northern communities were speaking Cree. He wanted to find a way to bridge that cultural gap.
He remembered how, when he was living in Edmonton, his French-speaking customers loved the fact that he was learning French.
“The French community just respected and loved the fact that I spent all this time and energy learning their language,” he said. “I could see that languages are like a bridge and open doors that really communicate respect to people.”
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.
Natasha Wolfe went to lunch at the restaurant with a friend during a break from class at the First Nations University of Canada in the city.
Wolfe noticed a server speaking Cree to a customer.
“I kind of nudged my friend Charmaine and was like, ‘is he speaking Cree?'” Wolfe said.
Wolfe said she observed him for a few minutes as he was walking around the restaurant, doing his thing.
“He has positive energy, and then when he came back to us, that’s when he told me that he’s been trying to learn Cree,” said Wolfe.
Wolfe asked his name and if she could take his picture to share to her social media page. She said she was impressed by Rieger taking the initiative to learn the Cree language and wanted to share his story with others.
Wolfe said people’s reaction to her post have been positive and encouraging.
“I was shocked. I was probably stunned more than anything,” Wolfe said. “I immediately felt admiration for him and his commitment to do it. His willingness was pretty interesting.”
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.”
