This 2023 third edition of kiskinahamawâkan âcimowinisa / Student Stories – the first edition in electronic form – is presented here as a gift from the Cree Literacy Network to the 2023 cohort of Cree language students (wherever they may be), and to all those who may follow them. Students, instructors, and readers are invited to download copies at no cost, and to pass them on in the same way.
First published in 1982, these little stories were written by students of Freda Ahenakew who were, themselves, fully fluent speakers of Plains Cree (y-dialect). Unlike stories written in English and translated into Cree, they offer us cultural and linguistic authenticity – genuine “Creeness” – in which world view and life experience and even humour and natural linguistic expression are captured without the heavy-handed influence of English.
We send our thanks to the original students who wrote these stories in 1982, though some of them may have travelled on: kinanâskomitinân! Readers who know any of them (or their families) personally might help this post reach them, or otherwise help us get a new copy of this work into their hands with our appreciation. Here are their names:
- Violet Chalifoux of Fort Smith, NWT
- Wally Isbister of Sandy Lake, SK
- Marguerite Gamble of Duck Lake, SK
- Ray Smith of Pinehouse, SK
- Flora Night of Cochin, SK
- Dean Whitestone of Onion Lake, SK
- Clarence Whitstone of Onion Lake, SK
- Audrey Wahobin of Mosquito, SK
As we release this new edition, I hope it will inspire the current generation of Cree students to embrace their own language and literacy, and that it will lead them to write and share new stories of their own.
Download your free copy: click on the file folder icon in the grey bar, below:
2 Responses
sôskwâc kitakahkipitên mâna ôhi ka-wa-wîcihtâsoyan! ay-hay kinanâskomitinân nîstanân
Enjoy it, all of you, and make stories of your own!