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Tuesday June 23 2015 15 ARTS CULTURE MUSIC By MEAGAN WOHLBERG The NWT Cree Language Programs new musical compilation album celebrated an of- ficial launch on Aboriginal Day in Fort Smith claiming its status as the first indigenous lan- guage album of its kind. The album called Nehihaw Nikamonak Oyoyowak Ohci Nanaskomowin or Cree Songs Howling for Gratitude features 14 tracks. Half are by local Northern artists like State of the Art and The Johnnys while the other half are by well-known Cree language artists from down south including A Tribe Called Red Jason Burnstick K.A.S.P. and the Iskwew Singers to name a few. CreeLanguageProgrammanagerKyleNapier said the album is first and foremost a collec- tion of fantastic original songs that he hopes will serve as a language learning resource. Ifindthatitseasiertofeelemotionallycon- nected to an album more so than you would to a dictionary or a plant identification book so we hope that the album elicits an emo- tional response that will encourage people to keep listening to the album and then parse out words gradually learn those words and then the sentences and phrases that theyre in he said. Thats maybe something that music offers that books or websites wont is that its something you can sing along to. Unlike most music the songs on Oyoyowak Ohci Nanaskomowin are meant to be shared for free Napier said. While the CD is labeled all rights reserved it also tells listeners that reproduction as a learning resource is encouraged. Cree album aims to inspire indigenous language learners Thats something you dont typically see on CDs. The album isnt available for sale its available for free Napier said. Thats because Napier wants the album to not only facilitate the spread of the Cree language but to inspire other indig- enous people to write songs in their own languages. We are encouraging those from other lan- guage groups whether its another dialect of Cree or another language group entirely to create resources like this he said. We recognize that a compilation album in an indigenous language hasnt been done like this before so we really want to see projects from other languages. There are approximately 330 speakers of Bush Cree in the NWT and another 1500 to 2000 in northern Alberta. With another 11 dialects of Cree across Canada roughly 83475 people identified as Cree speakers as of 2011 according to Statistics Canada. Napier said the album is mutually intelli- gible for speakers of both the Bush Cree and Plains Cree dialects. Every word spoken on the album is in Cree though the accompany- ing booklet translates the lyrics into English. While many of the songs were commis- sioned from known artists five of the songs were written during songwriting workshops held over the winter in Fort Smith and Hay River and are intended to have simplistic phrasing for easy comprehension. There arent any complicated series of words or lyrics in the songs theyre in a fairly basic sentence structure Napier said. So wed encourage people who do listen to the album or engage with it will use the liner notes or translated lyric book...You can use it to not only translate the word but use the songs as pronunciation guides. Since becoming Cree Language manager last fall Napier said he has been working to increase his capacity in the language which has influenced the kinds of resources he feels would be beneficial to others learning the language such as the album. As an early learner it does benefit my ap- proach to language resource development he said. Anything that would be commu- nity-minded and wouldnt involve just my participation it has to involve the work of elders of youth of artists and collaborators and designers. Mmawpiyak - community - is a big big focus. Thats whos really creat- ing the resources. The album is now available to download for free from nehiyawewin.com. FEATURING ARTISTS SUCH AS ELDER MARY CARDINAL A TRIBE CALLED RED VERONICA JOHNNY JASON BURNSTICK THE JOHNNYS ART NAPOLEON STATE OF THE ART K.A.S.P. ASICI ELDER WINSTON WUTTUNEE GERALD AND GERRY POITRAS ISKWEW SINGERS DOMINIC ABRAHAM NORTHERN CREE JORDANN POITRAS MINA KELCEY PIERROT The NWT Cree Language Program gratefully acknowledges the financial contribution from the Department of Education Culture and Employment of the Government of the Northwest Territories. NEHIYAW NIKAMONAK OYOYOWAK OHCI NANASKOMOWIN CREE SONGSHOWLS FOR GRATITUDE Education Culture Economic Development AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD AT NEHIYAWEWIN.COM ON JUNE 21ST 2015 NATIONAL ABORIGINAL DAY MEKIWIN NIKAMONAK FREE ALBUM Cree Language Program manager Kyle Napier hands out free copies of the new Cree language album at Aboriginal Day celebrations in Fort Smith on Sunday June 21. PhotoDaliCarmichael