Michif Lessons contains over 60 exercises to learn over 1000 Michif words. Categories range from Numbers, Months, Animals, Weather, the Body, Love, and more! Michif specialist Norman Fleury provided all of the translations, as well as the audio narrations that will help users pronounce the Michif terms correctly. Michif Lessons was developed by the Gabriel Dumont Institute and the app was created by Media Access and Production (eMAP), University of Saskatchewan.
For more information on the Gabriel Dumont Institute visit www.gdins.org. The Gabriel Dumont Institute acknowledges funding support for this project through the Office of the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
Michif is the endangered orally-based language of the Métis people. Perhaps only 5-10% of the population are able to speak the language, with the majority being elders. The Gabriel Dumont Institutes mandate is to promote and preserve Métis culture and therefore has been developing resources that allow people to hear and read the language. Since Michif-Cree is an oral language, no standard orthography exists. As a result, the Institute recognizes the spelling conventions of Michif experts, such as Norman Fleury.