The Counselling Speeches of Jim Ka-Nipitehtew

Ronald Henry is director of the School of Translators and Interpreters
at Laurentian University.

The public speeches that make up this volume were transcribed from
recordings of the living word of a monolingual Cree orator. The
elder’s stories tell of Cree knowledge, behavior, history, and values.
These stories, which are supplemented with notes and glossaries, invite
the reader to benefit from collective wisdom and principles of conduct
that are in danger of being lost.

The words of “Goes-Along-Drumming” are captured here “as
originally spoken,” transcribed in syllabics and translated directly
rather than rewritten or revised for publication. H.C. Wolfart comments
on the language (choice and meaning of words) and the formal literary
qualities of the discourses, touching on such points as repetition,
parallelism, and stylistic distinction. In his analysis of “The
Pipestem and the Making of Treaty Six,” he considers its structure,
its contractual and sacramental form, and the essential importance of
the pipestem itself.

Seekers of knowledge will value this record the Cree language, culture,
and worldview.