Produced as part of The Gift of Language and Culture Project, "Nihithawi-nikamona" is a folky cd of common camp and group songs sung in TH Dialect Cree by John Halkett. It was originally produced to be used in Cree instructing schools.
It is thirty-one minutes in length and features twenty-three well-known guitar accompanied childrens songs such as "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," "Yankee Doodle" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
The Gift of Language and Culture Project
The Gift of Language and Culture Project is a collaboration between Saskatchewan First Nations and provincial educational organizations. Its goal is to develop a Cree language curriculum and resource that can be used in Saskatchewan’s schools either in an immersion or core setting. The project features curriculum guides, vocabulary exercises, recorded interviews with elders, stories and songs.
Camp Songs
The cover of "Nihithawi-nikamona" features a drawing of a long-haired mustached man, John Halkett, with a guitar on his knee. He is sitting around a fire in front of a log cabin that has snowshoes and antlers nailed to the front of it. Three children sit cross-legged with the man, their lips puckered in song.
This image captures the feel of the songs on "Nihithawi-nikamona." John Halkett sings like a friendly camp counselor with guitar accompaniment in fun songs such as “This Land is Our Land,” “One Little, Two Little Boys,” and “Found a Peanut.” Halkett’s untrained voice and the simpleness of the recording also add to the outdoor camp feeling of the cd.
Although the songs are only sung in Cree, the songs featured on the disk are common and well-known, so children will be able to hum along whether they understand the words or not. On the back of the disk, the Cree titles are written in Roman orthography, which allows children, parents and teachers to practice saying the titles. The English title is also included, so listeners can easily find their favourite songs such as “Spider Song,” “I’m a Little Teapot” and “There Was A Farmer Who Had a Dog.”
Review and Availability
There is a live impromptu feel to the disk – there is even a throat clearing in one of the tracks and some off-key singing, but these add to the charm and down-hominess of "Nihithawi-nikamona." The songs are popular and well known and Halkett sings them with much passion. They are lively and fun to listen to even for the non-Cree speaker.
"Nihithawi-nikamona" can be ordered and listened to on The Gift of Language and Culture Project website.
Other foreign language disks for children include Three Putumayo Kids Playground CDs and the French Techno, Hip-hop, and Rock album "La danse des vitamines" by Annie Brocoli.
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