Spoken Cree , Cree Legends and Narratives: Spoken Cree Level 1: Unit 5

The present recordings are designed to accompany Unit 5 of the text Spoken Cree Level I, written by C. Douglas Ellis and published by the University of Alberta Press in 2000.

Cree is the most widely spoken of all the Aboriginal languages in Canada. It has several dialects. The recordings are in the N-Dialect, or Swampy Cree, spoken from the west coast of James Bay well into Manitoba.

The present recordings were begun between the years 1955-58 and continued throughout the 1960s and 70s. Voices heard in the early units are those of the late John Wynne, Anne Scott and Xavier Sutherland. The interest and further assistance of the many speakers from Kashechewan (formerly Albany Post), Moose Factory and occasionally elsewhere, who made possible the recording of later units, is also gratefully acknowledged. Production of a smooth and usable product, often from vastly uneven field materials, is to be credited to the care and expertise of the late Brian Smith.

Recording:	C. Douglas Ellis
Sound Editing:	Brian Smith and C. Douglas Ellis
Production:	Marie-Odile Junker
Assistant Production:	Delasie Torkornoo

In this section you will hear basic conversation units. First you will hear a sample conversation that includes "buildup," that is, individual vocabulary units and partial phrases that combine to create full sentences. Next you will hear the same conversation again, in full sentences only.