Indigenous Languages

Reclaiming language is an important part of Indigenous healing. This new Cree language app from Maskwacis* is available for download on iTunes and works on iPhones and iPads. It is a follow-up to the original Maskwacis Cree app that was released in 2014. The 2023 app allows users to see words and phrases on a single page.

*Maskwacis Cree is a part of the Plains Cree (Y)Dialect

Language allows us to enter what the Irish call the “thin places” — those moments (for they exist in time as much as in space) where the distance between heaven and Earth collapses to reveal glimpses of the divine. If landscape defines character and culture springs from a spirit of place, language is the interpretative lens that reveals the intersection of nature and the human heart.
from Why Indigenous Languages Matter by Wade Davis

Michif

Michif-to-go is an English-to-Michif Application available for Android (2.1+). This features over 12,000 translations and audio pronunciations by Michif-language expert Norman Fleury. A search tool allows users to look up the English word to find the Michif-Cree translations. This project was developed by the Gabriel Dumont Institute, and was funded through the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Aboriginal Languages Initiative and the Office of the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Canada. The app was created by Media Access and Production (eMAP), University of Saskatchewan.

See also:

The University of Alberta’s Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute.

Introduction to Cree language learning: Websites, social media and online dictionary, created Oct 2023.

First Voices is an an online space for Indigenous communities to share and promote language, oral culture and linguistic history. Language teams work with elders to curate and upload audio recordings, dictionaries, songs and stories. This content is shared with community members or the broader public.