âsonamâkêwin "passing it on" by Hal Cameron

Introduction

This repository is a collection of resources I have found around "the internet" that relate to the learning of the nêhiyaw language (favoring Y dialect). I live in Edmonton, AB and so most of the resources here may be more localized to that region, but not all.

Motivation

There is no faster method for learning a new langauge than full immersion. However, in the case where this is not an option (such as minimal-or-no access to fluent speakers) then it is the responsibility of the language learner to surround themselves with every resource available to create an immersive environment.

This repo represents my efforts to do so and also my desire to share that effort with others interested in nêhiyaw language revitalization. I've also chosen a source-code sharing platform for several reasons:

• allow for collaboration of resources. Facebook, various web sites and other groups have built/provided resources all over the place, and others have build websites trying to consolidate this information, but such a constant effort I think must be collaborative, the internet is constantly changing, and so we should all be able to add new links and such. Besise, have you ever tried to go back and find something on Facebook?
• ease of updating. This repository can be edited online with very little effort, and is hosted instantly,
• resources for learning marginalized languages should be free, open, and easily-accessible and so this effort shall be so as well.

The resources are out there, there's just now the work to be done.

ekosi pita. ahkamêyimoh.

Tips for the beginner

• I highly recommend you start with Chelsea Vowel's 4-part podcast (see below), especially if you have never spoken the language. This will give little background on language revitalization as well as a place to start. I've listened to it 3 times now.
• Learn SRO (Standard Roman Orthography), while it still very much has one foot in the colonial world, almost all the written materials you encounter are going to be written using SRO. The paper discusses in some detail how some nêhiyawêwin-specific sounds (dipthongs) are difficult to represent using the english alphabet, and why SRO is important. It's also really simple.
• Listen to the language every day. Put it on your iPhone, iPad, whatever. If I've learned anything in the last couple months, it's that the language cannot be learned without being heard and it cannot be spoken without practice.
• Join the Facebook groups Cree Simon Says and Nêhiyawêwin (Cree) Word/Phrase of the Day as a start, there are others out there, but these are quite active with new content.
• Get Solomon Ratt's book mâci-nêhiyawêwin (Beginning Cree), it's invaluable.
• Don't get hung up on dialect, at least not right now. Consume everything and sort out the details later on.

Resources

Courses

• mâci-nêhiyawêwin (Beginning Cree) student handbook by Solomon Ratt -- incredibly packed full of info, worth every penny
• Cree: Lanugage of the Plains - PDF of the 2018 edition by Jean Okimâsis
• Cree: Languate of the Plains Workbook - PDF workbook to accompany Cree - Language of the Plains
• Cree: Language of the Plains audio sessions - 20 audio sessions to accompany the Cree: Language of the Plains books (see Books)
• SICC Intensive Language Course in Cree - Language Course and CDs available from Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre, on page 7 under Plains Cree (Y) Material. You'll need to call SICC to order.

Audio

• Podcast - Chelsea Vowel's 4-part podcast on nêhiyawêwin language learning

  • peyak (one) - discussion on language learning and fluency
  • niso (two) - unsettling your language, a look at world view and culture
  • nisto (three) - a look at language revitalization and the sounds of nêhiyawêwin
  • newo (four) - the problem with 'translating' and some basic cree terms

• Podcast - Wayne's Podcast Wayne Jackson has a podcast series that is in both english and cree covering a variety of topics (10 episodes)

• Podcast - CFWE Conversational Cree - a variety of conversations around learning cree and language revitalization, as well as plenty of spoken cree, with Reuben Quinn, Wayne Jackson

Video

I'm not going to list every video on the internet that has to do with cree. These one's are key and are worth starting with.

• A History of the Cree Language with Reuben Quinn - talks about the star chart (atahkipêyihkana / syllabics) and it's role at the root of the language. I've watched these three times already.
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
• Cree Phrases - some handy daily phrases
• Let's learn to speak Cree - Darren Okemaysim, conversational Cree, check the author's YouTube for lots more in the series
• Wohkohtowin: Cree Natural Law - Another great video, lots of spoken cree
• Centre for Race and Culture (Edmonton) video resources page - I'm not going to list these off, you can click for yourself...
• amiskwaciy History Series - Videos from many elders and indigenous people from the Edmonton area
• Small Number Counts to 100 - Beautifull animated story about Small Number

Songs

Again, I'm not going to list off the internet here...

• The Tanisi Song! by Brian McDonald - a must-know for any nêhiyaw...
• The Number Song by Brian McDonald - another must-know
• Waniska - The Morning Song - I was given permission to share this, it's beautiful

Books

• 100 Days of Cree another fantastic book. I told someone on the phone "this book is more like 1,000 days of cree" there's so much content
• Saskatchewan Indian Culture Centre Catalogue - an awesome amount of print material for those wanting posters, story books, audio, etc. available in several dialects of Cree, Sioux, Dene, and Saulteaux (nakawe)

PDFs

• How to say it in Cree - a great place to start with some phrases and concepts from Solomon Ratt
• How to spell it in Cree - If you haven't read this yet, you should, covers basically "what is SRO" and why you should know it, from Solomon Ratt
• Plains Cree Conversation Manual - Robert Eyahpaise
• Plains Cree Conversation Manual - White Bear
• Ontario Native Languages Language Patterns - teacher's aid for cree and ojibwe languages
• A Cree View of Education (Solomon Ratt) - a PDF I found on the internet somewhere
• A Dictionary of the Cree Language (1938) - I have a print version of this, has it's own system of pronunciation, but still a cool resource
• Learning from the Computational Modelling of Plains Cree Verbs - I don't know who wrote this, a paper on attempting to model some of the language, largely acedemic
• Beginning Cree PDF version (2013) - a good free PDF of the mâci-nêhiyawêwin workbook by Solomon Ratt if you can't affort a print copy, distributed with permission. This version is pre-press, so some of the later chapters aren't fully complete
• The Plains Cree Texts - Leonard Bloomfield recorded a bunch of stories back in the 30s, these are the basis of a lot of scholars' work today

Apps

• itwêwina - Smart dictionary being developed at the UofA
• Cree Verb Conjugation App (Apple only) - I use this every day, source code available here
• Online Cree Dictionary - iPhone
• Online Cree Dictionary - Android
• maskwacis Cree app - great app with a lot of common phrases including pronunciation

Other resources

• Cree Literacy Network - has quite a few resources, pretty actively updated
• Online Cree Dictionary - Online Cree Dictionary, a combination of the maskwacis dictionary, Alberta Elder's Cree dictionary, and Arok Wolvengrey's dictionary, I use this every day also.
• Plains Cree Dictionary - Algonquian Dictionaries Project, very cool resource
• Cree Language Map - Google map of where languages are spoken in Canada
• alglang.net - Database of Angonquian Language Structures