nehiyawetan kikinahk / Speaking Cree in the Home
A Beginner's Guide for Families
Description
Speaking Cree in the Home, Belinda Daniels and Andrea Custer provide an introductory text to help families immerse themselves, their children, and their homes in nehiyawewin--the Cree language.
Despite the colonial attacks on Cree culture, language, and peoples, Custer and Daniels remind readers that the traditional ways of knowing and transferring knowledge to younger generations have not been lost and can be revived in the home, around the table, every day.
Speaking Cree in the Home is an approachable, hands-on manual that helps to re-forge connections between identity, language, family, and community--by centering Indigenous knowledge and providing Cree learners and speakers with a practical guide to begin their own journey of reclaiming and revitalizing Cree in the home.
Readers are guided through methods for language learning, the basics of reading Cree and Standard Roman Orthography, pronunciation of vowels, engaging language-learning games, and examples of high-frequency words and phrases that can easily be incorporated into daily routines and taught to children young and old.
About this Author
Andrea Custer is Woodland Cree and a fluent Cree speaker who grew up in wapâwikoscikanihk, also known as Pelican Narrows. She has a BA in Indigenous Studies from First Nations University, a secondary level BEd teaching degree from the University of Alberta, and a MEd from the University of Saskatchewan in Indigenous Land-Based Education. Andrea currently works at First Nations University as a Cree language lecturer.
Belinda Daniels began a journey in language recovery and now teaches others how to teach an Indigenous second language with the Canadian Indigenous Language and Development Institute. She is the founder of the non-profit nêhiyawak Language Experience Inc. and resides in Victoria, BC.
Reviews
"This is a welcome book for all who are interested in learning the Cree language, either for themselves alone or for themselves and their families. The book offers good guidance on the best practices in language learning based on the authors' personal experiences in their respective language journeys." --Solomon Ratt, author of mâci-nêhiyawêwin / Beginning Cree
"A major contribution, this book will be a useful resource in Cree classes, at both high school and university levels. But it is also useful for home use, as it describes the practical application of speaking Cree in the home and provides in an easy-to-read format and details a hands-on approach too." --Dorothy Thunder (Plains Cree, Little Pine First Nation), Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta
"The activity-based learning lessons that are presented here should serve as a model not only for teaching the language in a family setting, but in any other formal and informal settings, because they cover all aspects of teaching and learning; the content, variety of methods, appropriate timing and setting. . . . The pioneering in Cree language acquisition and revival has begun and hopefully this book reaches all interested individuals." --Ken Paupanekis, author of Pocket Cree: A Phrasebook for Nearly All Occasions
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