Cree Literacy Network

Between 2017 and 2019, the Rev. Fred Evans, a first-language Cree speaker from Swan River, Manitoba, read and recorded the entire New Testament of the legacy 1862 Western Cree Bible (commonly known as the “Mason Bible”). Fred, a Cree Elder and pastor passed away in 2020, knowing he’d truly earned the words “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

These audio files represent an incredible opportunity for Plains Cree speakers, and for Manitoba Cree speakers working on language reclamation and revitalization to immerse themselves in the confident sound of a master speaker, reading text he knew deeply and personally.

[[The audio files also maintain an interesting historical inter-dialect paradox: the 1862 Bible was published in Plains Cree (the y-dialect), in Swampy Cree (n-dialect) territory. And it was used, in Swampy Cree territory, in Plains Cree. In fact, this version of the Bible was so popular that it was (and still is) used in Oji-Cree communities, and is believed to be the source of the Cree influence in that Ojibwe dialect.]]

The audio recordings were instigated, guided, collected and sound-edited by Bill Jancewicz, who, along with his wife, Norma Jean Jancewicz, was then serving the Naskapi community in Labrador, through Wycliffe Bible Translators. Bill worked with Fred by phone and internet connection, guiding him through the recording of each chapter of the Bible from Matthew to Revelation. Bill reports in one of his own blog posts that for each hour of Fred’s recording, it would take five hours of listening and audio-editing on the computer to prepare the files for others to listen to. You can read more about their work together here. 

Readalong Bible Online:
The resulting collection of audio files is now found online in two readalong editions via Bible.com, and via the “YouVersion” mobile app. The interface is not wholly intuitive, but you can filter the searching “kanāhci kihci masinahikan” or the language name (listed as ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ). You can read: 

• In syllabics with audio (as the KKMs edition)
• In roman (SRO) with audio (as the KKMR edition). Note that this edition was generated by automatic conversion of the syllabic edition and has not been further edited, resulting in some discrepancies from the usual written standard.)
• Note that Fred recorded only the New Testament (so Old Testament segments are presented without audio, and may present an error message as a result.) 
• Note also that there is a “parallel” setting in the YouVersion that displays English and Cree side by side – another useful feature for language learners. 

The print edition of this syllabic Bible “Cree Western (Plains Traditional) Bible” was also recently re-issued and is available for purchase (at minimal cost) from the Canadian Bible Society.

Audio only via YouTube:
For those who might prefer to simply immerse themselves in the sounds of Fred’s reading, the audio files are also preserved and organized in playlists on YouTube on a channel belonging to Jesse Ramshaw.