Little Plains Cree Colouring Book, A

awāsi-nēhiyawēwin masinahikanis: A Little Plains Cree Colouring Book—Plains Cree People
by Patricia Deiter, Allen J. (A.J.) Felix, and Elmer Ballantyne
Illustrated by Aleigha Agecoutay
Published by YNWP
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$24.95 ISBN 9781778690136

It’s been said that when a language dies, a culture goes with it. In Canada several Indigenous languages are in fact endangered, but the one I grew up hearing in northern Saskatchewan—Cree—remains one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages in the country. Still, it’s important to continue teaching it so Cree youth can connect with their ancestors, their history, and cultural traditions. I’ll add that it’s also a fine idea for anyone who lives in northern communities to learn at least a few words of Cree; my parents took classes because they lived alongside and worked with Plains Cree people. I picked up a small vocabulary, as well, mostly from friends who lived on Flying Dust First Nation.

I’m glad that there are educators, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers who continue to find creative ways to make learning Plains Cree fun for children. Patricia Deiter, Allen J. (A.J.) Felix, and Elmer Ballantyne, the three Saskatchewan writers of awāsi-nēhiyawēwin masinahikanis: A Little Plains Cree Colouring Book—Plains Cree People, have done just that. The 55-page colouring book is a complement to their reference guide for teaching the Plains Cree language, nēhiyawēwin awāsi-masinahikanis—A Little Plains Cree Book for Children, published by YNWP in 2022. Deiter, from the Peepeekisis Cree Nation, introduces the book by explaining that they “hope to provide children with the basics of the Plains Cree language with the goal that we, as Plains Cree people, will still have our language for future generations”. The Plains Cree translation is credited to Felix and Ballantyne, plus Inez Deiter, “a Residential School survivor who had to relearn her Cree language”.

The book is simple (no facial features and mostly no finger definition) but effectively illustrated by Aleigha Agecoutay, also from the Peepeekisis Cree Nation. A figure or figures appear on each page, and they are identified by who they are, ie: a child (awāsis), an old man (kisēyiniw), and/or by their profession, ie: a teacher (okiskinwahamākēw), a fisherman (onochikinasewew). The large black line drawings feature floral bead work, braids, regalia, long earrings and horses, and many would be best coloured in pencil crayons, as crayons would be too thick for some of the finer details, ie: the doctor and nurse’s stethoscopes, and the bells on the dancer’s jingle dress.

The creators have included good information about their people and language, ie: the fact that the Cree nation is “Canada’s largest tribal group,” “Plains Cree is spoken in 43 First Nations communities in Saskatchewan alone,” and “Everyone older than the speaker will have a specific term, but anyone younger than the speaker will be addressed as nisīmis (my younger brother or sister)”. There’s a page included on the Plains Cree people’s extended kinship system—interesting—and pages dedicated to the “Sound system” (14 consonants, 7 vowels) and colours.

Hats off to these collaborators for doing their part in keeping the Plains Cree language alive and well, and doing it in a way that little learners will love. kinanāskomitināwāw—thank you!

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM