Dual or Triple Language

À travers le Créateur, le bison s’est offert en cadeau au peuple cri des Plaines pour lui procurer nourriture et assurer sa survie. Autrefois, le plus imposant mammifère terrestre d’Amérique du Nord parcourait les vastes plaines au nombre de 30 à 50 millions. Il a fourni abri, nourriture, vêtements, outils, équipement de chasse, objets cérémoniels et plusieurs autres nécessités aux habitants des Plaines.

Mais vers 1889, il ne restait plus qu’un millier de bisons et la vie des Cris des Plaines a changé. Encore de nos jours, on voue un grand respect au bison en souvenir de la vie harmonieuse qui a déjà existé.

Cette histoire relate la façon dont le bison s’est donné sans compter.

Educator Information
This resource is also available in English and Plains Cree y-dialect: Honouring the Buffalo: A Plains Cree Legend

Additional Information
50 pages | 11.00" x 8.50"

"A long time ago, Our People came from the Northern Woodlands to the Great Plains looking for food," Grandfather said. "They saw that the Buffalo lived in harmony with Mother Earth the same as Our People did."

Through the Creator, the buffalo gave themselves as a gift for the sustenance and survival of the Plains Cree people. The largest land animal in North America once thundered across the Great Plains in numbers of 30 to 50 million. They provided shelter, food, clothing, tools, hunting gear, ceremonial objects and many other necessities for those who lived on the Plains.

But by 1889, just over a thousand buffalo remained, and the lives of the Plains Cree people changed. The buffalo is honoured to this day, a reminder of life in harmony with nature as it was once lived. This is the story of how the buffalo came to share themselves so freely.

Educator Information
The text is in English and y-dialect Plains Cree.  Y-dialect Plains Cree translation by Randy Morin, Jean Okimasis, and Arok Wolvengrey.

This resource is also available in French: Hommage au bison.

Additional Information
48 pages | 11.00" x 8.50"

A Cherokee boy plants an apple seed, and as soon as a seedling appears he can see the apple tree it is meant to be. But the little apple tree isn't so sure. Young and impatient, it begins to doubt its calling, especially after apples fail to appear that first fall. How can the boy convince the tree to give the seasons the time to work their magic?

Story in English with Cherokee translation.

Pris entre deux mondes, le puma a du mal à trouver un lieu où il est à sa place. En tant que chat fantôme, le puma vit comme il le devrait : dans la forêt, mais sans ses amis. 

Misinsit miawe'k tapu'kl wskitqamu'kl, Ajik alme'si wejitoq ta'n tett tleyawit. Skite'kmujewey Mia'wj mimajit ta'n tel nenk 'kisoqe'k pasik mu eymu'kk witapk. 

Educator Information
This resource is also available in English and Mi’kmaw: How The Ghost Came to be Called the Ghost Cat / Ta'n Petalu Telui'tut Skite'kmujew Mia'jw.

Additional Information
42 pages | 14.00" x 11.00"
 

Manny's Memories, by Author Ken Caron with his daughter Angela Caron, introduces us to the Métis community of Round Prairie, Saskatchewan through the eyes of a young boy growing up in the 1940s. Manny shares his boyhood memories of the once vibrant community not too far from Saskatoon's city limits. Though rural life at the time called for hard work, self-sufficiency, and generosity, there was always time to have fun and to enjoy being a young Métis boy. Artist Donna Lee Dumont's visual expression of Manny's Memories helps us see the world as Ken, called "Manny" in his youth, remembers it. Norman Fleury's accompanying Michif translation and narration returns to the language which Manny often hears as a boy. Manny's Memories leaves us with a rare and satisfying glimpse of life not so long ago.

Educator Information
Grade Level: Primary
Format: Book/CD, English/Michif-Cree

Additional Information
36 pages | 10.94" x 8.46"

Leah Marie Dorion’s My First Métis Lobstick takes young readers back to Canada’s fur trade era by focusing on a Métis family’s preparations for a lobstick celebration and feast in the boreal forest. Through the eyes of a young boy, we see how important lobstick making and ceremony was to the Métis community. From the Great Lakes to the present-day Northwest Territories, lobstick poles—important cultural and geographical markers, which merged Cree, Ojibway, and French-Canadian traditions—dotted the landscape of our great northern boreal forest. This little-known aspect of Métis history vividly comes to life through Leah Marie Dorion’s crisp prose and stunning gallery-quality artwork.

Educator Information
This is a dual-language picture book delivered in English and Michif.  It includes a CD.

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72 pages | 10.98" x 8.54" | Michif translation by Normal Fleury

In this basic counting book from 1 to 10, this bilingual board book introduces Plains Cree (y-dialect) and Swampy Cree (n-dialect) written in Roman orthography. Artist and author has a simple graphic style using bold and clear text to introduce counting with appropriate cultural images from contemporary Cree society. An excellent introduction to counting to ten in Cree and English using authentic Cree imagery.

Educator Information
Bilingual: Cree and English

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Board book 

Adair’s Woodland style of painting is the highlight in this counting board book written in Ojibway and English. Beautifully designed birds and other wildlife sit against flat planes of colour in tones and shades ranging from bright reds to vibrant purples to pale blues. This is a gorgeous book for the very young that opens their eyes to art and their ears to language. An excellent introduction to Ojibway numbers, highlighting the culture’s deep relationship with animals.

The iglu, a traditional winter shelter built in the Arctic for centuries, is a vital part of Inuit culture. The qamutiik, a traditional sled used for hunting, is an essential tool whose versatility and dependability have allowed it to endure over time.

In How to Build an Iglu & a Qamutiik, Solomon Awa provides thorough how-to instructions on building iglus and qamutiiks, along with general background information on their construction and importance to survival. Complete with detailed, clear illustrations, this valuable resource will teach readers to build these structures that are so central to Inuit culture and tradition.

Educator Information
Delivered in a dual-language format of English and Ikutitut.

Additional Information
32 pages | 9.00" x 7.00" | b&w illustrations, colour photographs

Pīsim Finds Her Miskanow is about a week in the life of Pīsim, a young Cree woman living in the late 1600s. The 1993 archaeological excavation of the remains of a woman and her belongings from Nagami Bay at South Indian Lake, Manitoba, was the inspiration for the story. In the story, Pīsim begins to both recognize her purpose for being and develop her gifts for fulfilling her purpose. This beautifully illustrated book includes drawings of artifacts, definitions and descriptions, historical facts and information, Cree songs and words, maps, recipes, and much more.

The Gift Is in the Making retells previously published Anishinaabeg stories, bringing to life Anishinaabeg values and teachings to a new generation. Readers are immersed in a world where all genders are respected, the tiniest being has influence in the world, and unconditional love binds families and communities to each other and to their homeland. Sprinkled with gentle humour and the Anishinaabe language, this collection of stories speaks to children and adults alike, and reminds us of the timelessness of stories that touch the heart.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of The Debwe Series.

Recommended for grades 5 to 9.

Additional Information
99 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

One day as the great Eagle flew high above the forest he came upon a small bundle containing seven teachings, teachings that will bring balance, harmony and peace to all who practice them. But the teachings come with a simple warning: beware of envy and greed.

As Eagle spreads the seven teachings throughout the forest, he forgets to heed their warning and soon the forest is lost to jealousy, greed and selfishness. Eagle must save the forest, and he soon learns the most important teaching of all: truth.

“When you see Eagle flying high in the beautiful sky above, ask yourself this: Am I proud of myself? Have I respected myself, others, and the environment? Have I stood up for someone and stood up for what is right? Have I practiced the teaching of truth?”

This engaging story, with beautiful illustrations by Dozay (Arlene) Christmas, allows the reader to reconnect to and understand the seven teachings and their meaning in relation to themselves and society as a whole. The Lost Teachings is a story about the importance of the seven teachings — wisdom, respect, love, honesty, humility, courage and truth — and how interconnected they are in achieving balance, harmony and peace for individuals and society as a whole.

Educator Information
This resource is also available in French and Mi'kmaq: Les Savoirs Perdus / Panuijkatasikl Kina'masuti'l

Additional Information
48 pages | 5.25" x 8.75"

We have, according to our beliefs, five essential parts: body, soul, spirit, heart, and mind, which all have to be satisfied equally. When you are in balance you are walking on the right road, following the right path of life - Basil Johnston. Traditional Anishinaabe stories are told in both Anishinaabe and English languages for adults.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of The Anishinaubaemowin Series.

Recommended for ages 5 - 10

Additional Information
112 pages | 9.00" x 9.00"

After creating the Mi’kmaqs, the great Glooscap was certain that he had established harmony on earth. But a problem remained: the beavers had built a huge dam across the Restigouche River, preventing the salmon from swimming upriver as far as the camp of the Mi’kmaqs who had come to fish there. Young Mi’kmaq men were convinced they could remedy the situation. However, completely failing to put things right, they asked the loon to call Glooscap to help them. Will the beavers once more outmaneuver Master Glooscap?

Educator Information
Delivered in a triple-language format of English, French, and Mi'kmaw.

Roy has written his version of a Mi’kmaq legend in this story, mentioning special places such as Sugarloaf Mountain.

French Text: Rejean Roy
English Text: Allison Mitcham
Kisi-Mi'kmaw wi'kek Text: Serena M. Sock
Illustrations: Rejean Roy

Additional Information
22 pages | 8.00" x 8.00"