Collection search - Cree language material [textual record]

Record information – Brief
1
Cree language material [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Series

Date:

1844-1877.

Reference:

MG24-J54

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

133296

Context of this record:

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James Hunter fonds

Cree language material
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Record information – Details

Series includes:

7 lower level description(s)
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Date(s):

1844-1877.

Place of creation:

Canada

Extent:

62 cm of textual records.

Language of material:

Cree

Added language of material:

Cree, English, Chipewyan

Scope and content:

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Series consists of Cree language translations of the Venerable James Hunter; his second wife, Jean Ross Hunter; and a number of other missionary translators, including the Reverend John Smithurst (1807-1867). It also includes material relating to the learning of the Cree language, such as vocabularies, a phrase book, and grammatical material. It comprises seven sub-series: Church material, consisting of two manuscript items (church rules and a Bible knowledge quiz, ca. 1850) and two published items ("The Faith and Duty of a Christian and Watts' First Catechism"), 1855, in Cree (vol. 1, files 12-15); Sermons and addresses, in Cree (vol. 1, files 16-20); Anthems and hymns, in Cree (vol. 1, files 21-23); Prayers, in Cree (vol. 1, files 24-25); "Book of Common Prayer", consisting of translations into Cree of various parts of the Book (Epistles and Gospels, the 39 Articles of Religion, and the first 19 Psalms from the Psalter) as well as a number of prayers pertaining to the Dominion, Province, etc. (vol. 1, files 26-27 and vol. 2, files 28-30); Bible translations, consisting of manuscript and published translations into Cree (some of which are by James Hunter and some by Mrs. Hunter) of the greater part of the New Testament and a substantial part of the Old Testament (vol. 2, files 31-44 and vol. 3, file 45); Language material, consisting of manuscript and printed items relating to the vocabularies of various Indian tribes (mainly the Cree) and to the structure of the Cree language (vol. 3, files 46-62).

Additional name(s):

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Smithurst, John, 1807-1867

Biography/Administrative history:

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Smithurst, John, 1807-1867 : The Reverend John Smithurst (1807-1867) was the son of William and Christina Smithurst, born at Lea in Derbyshire on 9 September 1807. Smithurst was educated for the ministry of the Church of England at the Church Missionary Society's training college in Islington where he enrolled on 10 September 1836. He was ordained by the Bishop of London (deacon on 23 December 1838 and priest on 26 May 1839), and immediately despatched by the C.M.S. as a missionary to Rupert's Land, where he arrived in September of 1839.

He was stationed at the Red River Settlement in the C.M.S.'s Indian mission at the junction of Netley Creek and the Red River and for a short while, until 1 June 1840, also served as a chaplain to the Hudson's Bay Company. In October 1840 he officiated at the marriage of the important Saulteaux chief, Peguis.

He was the first Anglican missionary in Rupert's Land to learn an Indian language and undertake translations of the Prayer Book. His A VOCABULARY IN ENGLISH AND CREE; compiled for the use of the Missionary Schools by the Rev. John Smithurst. - Part First - Nouns. was printed in 1848 by the Rev. W. Mason on the Wesleyan Mission Press at Rossville, Norway House.

Controversies and acute rheumatism led to Smithurst's resignation and return to England in 1851, but in 1852 he immigrated to Canada West and settled in Elora, where he was for a while minister of St. John's Church. He died at Elora in September 1867, bequeathing his books to the Bishop of Toronto, John Strachan, for use by the University of Trinity College.

Additional information:

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Source of title:

The title is based on the contents of the series.

Location of originals note:

The originals of the cloth-backed sheets of Cree verb paradigms have been withdrawn from circulation for conservation reasons and are held in vol. 7. The original printed items were transferred in 1999 to the Rare Book collection of the National Library of Canada.

Language note:

The material in the Cree language is all written or printed in Roman characters, not Cree syllabics, because the Venerable James Hunter preferred the precision obtainable by using the European alphabet.

Reproduction note:

Photocopies of the printed items transferred to the National Library of Canada have been kept in the fonds and are listed in Finding Aid MSS2025. Reproductions of the three oversize cloth sheets containing Cree verb paradigms have been made from the printed text in James Hunter's "A Lecture on the Grammatical Construction of the Cree Language" (London, 1875), and placed in vol. 3, files 53-55, for consultation by researchers. The negatives used in the creation of these reproductions are held in vol. 8 and do not circulate to researchers.

Source:

Private

Former archival reference no.:

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MG24-J54
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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [MG24 J 54]

[Consultation 90 Open]

1--3;

[Consultation 90 Open]

6--8;

[Consultation 90 Open]

Terms of use:

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Textual records: Volumes 6 to 8 do not circulate. Reproductions of this material are available in volumes 2-3 for consultation by researchers.

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