Cree language to go online with new Internet dictionary (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Cree language to go online with new Internet dictionary

Kerry Benjoe
The Leader-Post

Saturday, April 28, 2007
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=662453ca-78ca-41ca-9458-e115a5ec258f

The Cree language is going high tech as part of the Cree Language Resource
Project that was announced on Friday at the First Nations University of
Canada (FNUniv).

The project is a joint initiative between the FNUniv, the Miyo Wahkohtowin
Community Education Authority (MWCEA) and Intellinet Technologies Inc. The
partners are working towards developing an online Cree-English dictionary.

"It's not for profit," said Loretta Pete-Lambert, director of education at
the MWCEA.

"Its intention is to preserve Cree, enhance Cree for individuals interested
in learning about Cree."

The MWCEA, a K-to-12 school located on the Ermineskin Cree Nation in
Alberta, is responsible for spearheading the initiative.

Pete-Lambert said the concept of an online dictionary that was both
educational and interactive grew out of the need to find resources to teach
the Cree language.

She anticipates the dictionary will be available by the end of May or the
beginning of June. The dictionary is currently being worked on to ensure
that everything is working as it should.

In November, Pete-Lambert signed a similar agreement with the University of
Alberta to make its Cree dictionary available online. She feels it's
important to convert as many of the existing First Nations dictionaries to
an online version as a way of creating a more complete resource tool.

The project is moving forward very quickly because of the support
Pete-Lambert has received from those involved in the project, like her
school's information technologies person, Ahmed Jawad.

"He sees this as a very good resource for our school system. He's committed
to it. He has passion behind it," Pete-Lambert said of Jawad, who has also
had to learn the Cree-syllabics system so that he's able to understand the
intricacies involved with the First Nations language.

Jawad is also the president of Intellinet Technologies Inc. and is
responsible for developing the online version.

Richard Lightning, an elder from the Ermineskin First Nation, said he was
overwhelmed by the whole project and is amazed by what technology is able
to do.

"Hopefully the First Nations people in this province support every effort to
be able to revive and restore the language and the culture, because the two
go hand in hand," said Lightning.

Arok Wolvengrey, an associate professor in the Indian Languages Department
at the FNUniv, has provided all the information from his dictionary,
nehiyawewin: itwewina/Cree words, for the online version.

He jumped at the opportunity to have his dictionary go online because he
knew it was not something he would have been able to do on his own.

"I certainly did not have the expertise to take it to that next level," said
Wolvengrey.

"So this is perfect. It allows us to expand, to continually add information
to the database ... But we're going way beyond that, doing audio files and
video clips."

Wolvengrey's passion for the Cree language began when he was introduced to
it as a child. He has dedicated much of career to learning and preserving
it.

Wolvengrey sees the potential the Internet can play in Cree retention
intiatives and says incorporating the syllabic-writing system as well as a
pronunciation key will go a long way in helping people learn and retain the
language.

The dictionary converts words from their English form into their Cree
translation using Cree syllabics or the Roman alphabet. It can create flash
cards and story boards, and includes games and testing components for
children as well as a database of lesson plans for teachers.

The online dictionary is available at www.creedictionary.com. It contains
more than 30,000 Cree words.

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007