Fifteen books on the Cree language.

Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Edmonton, Alberta: Northern Canada Evangelical Mission, Inc.; Four Arrows Printing,, 1961-70-71-72. The First Nations educator who preserved the Cree language An important collection of Cree-language teaching materials by a First Nations woman educator. Fourteen of the fifteen works were written by Dr Anne Anderson, a Métis elder and pioneer of Cree language preservation and instruction; the remaining title, Cree: An Intensive Language Course, is by Mary Edwards and among the earliest Cree language textbooks. Born in St Albert in 1906, Anderson was educated formally in English but raised speaking Cree at home. Following her mother's death, she committed herself to ensuring the transmission of the language, first through private tutoring and later through teaching in public schools, colleges, and universities in Edmonton. In the early 1970s, she began producing her own textbooks to support the teaching of Cree, issuing inexpensive, practical booklets intended for daily classroom use. Anderson wrote that "the Cree Language is the oldest language in history, yet very new to those who are trying to learn to speak it. Cree Biblical language was written many years ago by missionaries. I found that Biblical language is quite different from everyday conversational Cree". Anderson's textbooks were conceived in deliberate distinction from earlier Cree-language works produced by non-Indigenous missionaries. A representative of that earlier tradition included here is Mary Edwards's Cree: An Intensive Language Course. Included here are several Awasis books, children's Cree-language primers, many with outline illustrations intended for colouring. A loosely inserted pencil sketch of "The Great Outdoor Kitchen", an Indigenous outdoor cooking diagram annotated in Cree in blue ink, offers a further glimpse into the pedagogical and cultural context in which these works were used. Anderson later founded the Dr Anne Anderson Native Heritage and Cultural Centre, and today a high school in Edmonton bears her name. Some volumes lack explicit author attribution or imprint details, though their content, format, and instructional approach are consistent with Anderson's known work. A full list of the titles is available on request. 15 works, quarto, octavo, or oblong octavo. Original quarter cloth or wire-stitched, wrappers in various colours, covers lettered in black typescript or manuscript ink. Section excised to cover of Awasis Books: Book III, Little Hunter Book and one page of Intensive Cree Course for Beginners. Pencil and pen ink ownership inscriptions and annotations to covers and contents to a few vols. Overall toned and used, commensurate with a working archive, soiling and creases to covers, with some marginal wear to edges or stapled spines. A good collection of vulnerable material.