Stories and Texts

Text Collections

The following is a list of Plains Cree text collections in the Standard Roman Orthography (SRO) and/or Syllabics. Where possible, links to online availability or access will be provided.

Ahenakew, Alice.  âh-âyîtaw isi ê-kî-kiskêyihtahkik maskihkiy / They Knew Both Sides of Medicine, Cree Tales of Curing and Cursing Told by Alice Ahenakew.

Edited and translated by H.C. Wolfart and Freda Ahenakew, Publications of the Algonquian Text Society.  Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba Press, 2001.
  • You can order this book from the publisher here: https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/they-knew-both-sides-of-medicine
  • This 314-page volume is the sixth major collection of texts produced by Freda Ahenakew.  It includes an introduction by H.C. Wolfart, 12 texts in Cree SRO with facing-page English translation, organized in three sections – “Anglican Priest and Cree Healer”, “Strange New World” and “Powers of Good and Evil” – notes to the texts and Cree and English glossaries.

Bear, Glecia, et al.  kôhkominawak otâcimowiniwâwa / Our Grandmothers’ Lives as Told in Their Own Words.

Edited and translated by Freda Ahenakew and H.C. Wolfart.  Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 1998.
  • You can order this book from the publisher here: https://uofrpress.ca/Books/O/Our-Grandmothers-Lives
  • This 408-page volume is the second major collection of texts produced by Freda Ahenakew.  It includes an introduction to “Our Grandmothers”, “An Introduction to the Texts”, four texts under the heading “Life in the Bush”, four texts under the heading “Reserve Life”, a ninth “Dialogue” text edited and translated by Freda Ahenakew and Arok Wolvengrey, and “Notes” by H.C. Wolfart.
  • First printed by Fifth House Publishers, Saskatoon, 1991.

Kâ-Nîpitêhtêw, Jim.  ana kâ-pimwêwêhahk okakêskihkêmowina / The Counselling Speeches of Jim Kâ‑Nîpitêhtêw. 

Edited and translated by Freda Ahenakew and H.C. Wolfart.  Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1998.
  • You can order this book from the publisher here: https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/the-counselling-speeches-of-jim-ka-nipitehtew
  • This 390-page volume is the fifth major collection of texts produced by Freda Ahenakew.  It includes a preface, 8 texts presented in Syllabics, and then presented in Cree SRO with facing-page English translation, commentary and notes by H.C. Wolfart, and Cree and English glossaries.

Masuskapoe, Cecilia.  piko kîkway ê-nakacihtât: kêkêk otâcimowina ê-nêhiyawastêki. 

Edited by H.C. Wolfart and Freda Ahenakew.  Winnipeg: Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics, 2010.
  • This book currently appears to be out of print.
  • This 178-page volume is the seventh major collection of texts produced by the partnership of Freda Ahenakew and H.C. Wolfart.  It includes a short preface and five lengthy chapters presented solely in Plains Cree, without translation or glossary, and is thus ideal for advanced readers who will be challenged and rewarded.

Minde, Emma.  kwayask ê-kî-pê-kiskinowâpahtihicik / Their Example Showed Me the Way.

Edited and translated by Freda Ahenakew and H.C. Wolfart.  Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press, 1997.
  • This book currently appears to be out of print.
  • This 275-page volume is the fourth major collection of texts produced by Freda Ahenakew.  It includes the introductory essay “The Education of a Cree Woman”, “Editorial Notes”, eight main sections of texts in Cree SRO with facing English translation, “Notes on the Texts”,  a “Cree-English Glossary”, and an “English Index to the Glossary”.

Rockthunder, Mary Louise.  kayās nōhcīn / I Come from a Long Time Back. 

Edited and translated by Jean L. Okimāsis and Arok Wolvengrey.  Regina: University of Regina Press, 2022.
  • You can order this book from the publisher here: https://uofrpress.ca/Books/K/kayas-nohcin
  • This 341-page volume is the first text collection of the Our Own Words series of First Nations language texts under the series editorship of Arok Wolvengrey at the University of Regina Press.  It includes a preface and acknowledgements, an introduction to Mary Louise and how the texts were narrated, recorded and edited, six chapters, ranging in size, concerning Mary Louise’s life and her knowledge of traditional storytelling, culture, and plant use – presented in both Syllabics and in Cree SRO (with facing-page English translation) – and a glossary of all Cree vocabulary found in the texts.

Vandall, Peter, and Joe Douquette.  wâskahikaniwiyiniw-âcimowina / Stories of the House People.

Edited, translated and with a glossary by Freda Ahenakew.  Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1987.
  • You can access information about this work here: https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/stories-of-the-house-people
  • This 240-page volume is the first set of texts collected, transcribed, translated and published by Freda Ahenakew.  It includes the introduction to “The Story-Tellers and their Stories”, all ten texts first in syllabics and then in standard roman orthography with English translation facing, and a set of Appendices including “Notes on the Orthography and the Glossary”, “References”, a “Cree-English Glossary”, an “Inverse Stem Index”, and an “English Index to the glossary”.

Whitecalf, Sarah.  kinêhiyâwiwininaw nêhiyawêwin / The Cree Language Is Our Identity: The La Ronge Lectures of Sarah Whitecalf.

Edited and translated by H.C Wolfart and Freda Ahenakew.  Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1993.
  • You can access information about this work here: https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/the-cree-language-is-our-identity 
  • This 160-page volume is the third major collection of texts produced by Freda Ahenakew.  It includes an “Introduction”, all eight texts in syllabics followed by the same texts in SRO with facing English translations, a “Cree-English Glossary”, and an “English Index to the Glossary”.

Whitecalf, Sarah.  mitoni niya nêhiyaw – nêhiyaw-iskwêw mitoni niya / Cree is who I truly am – me, I am truly a Cree woman.

Edited and translated by H.C Wolfart and Freda Ahenakew.  Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1993.
  • You can order this book from the publisher here: https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/mitoni-niya-nehiyaw-cree-is-who-i-truly-am 
  • This 344-page volume is the eighth major collection of texts produced by the partnership of H.C. Wolfart and Freda Ahenakew (posthumously).  It includes a preface written by the narrator’s son, Ted Whitecalf,  an “Introduction” by H.C. Wolfart, 12 texts in Cree SRO with facing-page English translation, organized in three sections – “Becoming a Cree Woman”, “Being a Cree Woman” and “The Spiritual Life”.
  • The glossary to this book has been published separately as part of Wolfart (2022) Studies in Plains Cree Grammar and Style, Memoir 24, Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics, Winnipeg.

Story Books

The following is a list of Plains Cree story books in the Standard Roman Orthography (SRO) and/or Syllabics. Where possible, links to online availability or access will be provided.

– to be updated