Gospel Selections: The First Book in Inuktitut Syllabics
The syllabic writing system invented for the Cree was first introduced to Inuit in 1855 by Rev. Edwin A. Watkins (1827–1907) at Fort George and Little Whale River on the James Bay and Hudson Bay coasts, respectively. That same year at Fort George, Watkins prepared a small book of gospel selections i...
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Online Access: | http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1096498ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1096498ar |
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fterudit:oai:erudit.org:1096498ar 2023-05-15T16:08:12+02:00 Gospel Selections: The First Book in Inuktitut Syllabics Harper, Kenn 2022 http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1096498ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1096498ar en eng Centre interuniversitaire d’études et de recherches autochtones (CIÉRA) Érudit Études Inuit Studies vol. 46 no. 1 (2022) http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1096498ar doi:10.7202/1096498ar Tous droits réservés © La revue Études Inuit Studies, 2022 Inuktitut Inuttut syllabic(s) Horden Watkins Okakterook Fort George Little Whale River Moose Factory Moravian transliteration syllabique Petite rivière de la Baleine translitération text 2022 fterudit https://doi.org/10.7202/1096498ar 2023-03-05T00:12:44Z The syllabic writing system invented for the Cree was first introduced to Inuit in 1855 by Rev. Edwin A. Watkins (1827–1907) at Fort George and Little Whale River on the James Bay and Hudson Bay coasts, respectively. That same year at Fort George, Watkins prepared a small book of gospel selections in Inuktitut syllabics with the help of a young Inuk, Peter Okakterook (circa 1836–1858), and sent it to Rev. John Horden (1828–1893) in Moose Factory, who printed it on the press he had acquired for his mission. This small book is one of the earliest items printed on Horden’s press, and the only one printed in Inuktitut. Only one copy is known to have survived, at Library and Archives Canada, where it is catalogued under the title Selections from the Gospels in the Dialect of the Inuit of Little Whale River. The small volume of eight pages, transliterated into syllabics from Moravian publications prepared in the roman orthography used for Inuttut on the Labrador coast in present-day Nunatsiavut, was intended for use by Inuit in Nunavik. Although printed in syllabics using what are today seen as western Cree syllable-final symbols, the text is readable by and understandable to modern Inuit readers. This paper examines early missionary efforts to develop literacy for mission purposes among Inuit, including the printing and distribution of this small volume. Le système d’écriture syllabique inventé pour les Cris a été introduit pour la première fois aux Inuit en 1855 par le révérend Edwin A. Watkins (1827-1907) à Fort George et Petite rivière de la Baleine sur les côtes de la baie James et de la baie d’Hudson respectivement. Cette année-là, Watkins, qui travaillait à Fort George, rédigea avec l’aide d’un jeune Inuk, Peter Okakterook (vers 1836–1858), un petit livre d’extraits des évangiles en syllabaire inuktitut. Il envoya le manuscrit au révérend John Horden (1828–1893) à Moose Factory qui l’imprima sur la presse acquise pour sa mission, en 1855. L’impression a été achevée en 1856. Ce livret est l’un des premiers ... Text Études/Inuit/Studies Hudson Bay inuit inuktitut Inuttut Cris James Bay Nunavik Érudit.org (Université Montréal) Baie James ENVELOPE(-80.500,-80.500,53.500,53.500) Baleine ENVELOPE(140.012,140.012,-66.649,-66.649) Canada Fort George ENVELOPE(-78.994,-78.994,53.833,53.833) Horden ENVELOPE(-80.766,-80.766,51.217,51.217) Hudson Hudson Bay la Baleine ENVELOPE(140.012,140.012,-66.649,-66.649) Moose Factory ENVELOPE(-80.616,-80.616,51.267,51.267) Nunavik Petite rivière de la Baleine ENVELOPE(-76.749,-76.749,56.000,56.000) Watkins ENVELOPE(-67.086,-67.086,-66.354,-66.354) Études/Inuit/Studies 46 1 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Érudit.org (Université Montréal) |
op_collection_id |
fterudit |
language |
English |
topic |
Inuktitut Inuttut syllabic(s) Horden Watkins Okakterook Fort George Little Whale River Moose Factory Moravian transliteration syllabique Petite rivière de la Baleine translitération |
spellingShingle |
Inuktitut Inuttut syllabic(s) Horden Watkins Okakterook Fort George Little Whale River Moose Factory Moravian transliteration syllabique Petite rivière de la Baleine translitération Harper, Kenn Gospel Selections: The First Book in Inuktitut Syllabics |
topic_facet |
Inuktitut Inuttut syllabic(s) Horden Watkins Okakterook Fort George Little Whale River Moose Factory Moravian transliteration syllabique Petite rivière de la Baleine translitération |
description |
The syllabic writing system invented for the Cree was first introduced to Inuit in 1855 by Rev. Edwin A. Watkins (1827–1907) at Fort George and Little Whale River on the James Bay and Hudson Bay coasts, respectively. That same year at Fort George, Watkins prepared a small book of gospel selections in Inuktitut syllabics with the help of a young Inuk, Peter Okakterook (circa 1836–1858), and sent it to Rev. John Horden (1828–1893) in Moose Factory, who printed it on the press he had acquired for his mission. This small book is one of the earliest items printed on Horden’s press, and the only one printed in Inuktitut. Only one copy is known to have survived, at Library and Archives Canada, where it is catalogued under the title Selections from the Gospels in the Dialect of the Inuit of Little Whale River. The small volume of eight pages, transliterated into syllabics from Moravian publications prepared in the roman orthography used for Inuttut on the Labrador coast in present-day Nunatsiavut, was intended for use by Inuit in Nunavik. Although printed in syllabics using what are today seen as western Cree syllable-final symbols, the text is readable by and understandable to modern Inuit readers. This paper examines early missionary efforts to develop literacy for mission purposes among Inuit, including the printing and distribution of this small volume. Le système d’écriture syllabique inventé pour les Cris a été introduit pour la première fois aux Inuit en 1855 par le révérend Edwin A. Watkins (1827-1907) à Fort George et Petite rivière de la Baleine sur les côtes de la baie James et de la baie d’Hudson respectivement. Cette année-là, Watkins, qui travaillait à Fort George, rédigea avec l’aide d’un jeune Inuk, Peter Okakterook (vers 1836–1858), un petit livre d’extraits des évangiles en syllabaire inuktitut. Il envoya le manuscrit au révérend John Horden (1828–1893) à Moose Factory qui l’imprima sur la presse acquise pour sa mission, en 1855. L’impression a été achevée en 1856. Ce livret est l’un des premiers ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Harper, Kenn |
author_facet |
Harper, Kenn |
author_sort |
Harper, Kenn |
title |
Gospel Selections: The First Book in Inuktitut Syllabics |
title_short |
Gospel Selections: The First Book in Inuktitut Syllabics |
title_full |
Gospel Selections: The First Book in Inuktitut Syllabics |
title_fullStr |
Gospel Selections: The First Book in Inuktitut Syllabics |
title_full_unstemmed |
Gospel Selections: The First Book in Inuktitut Syllabics |
title_sort |
gospel selections: the first book in inuktitut syllabics |
publisher |
Centre interuniversitaire d’études et de recherches autochtones (CIÉRA) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1096498ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1096498ar |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-80.500,-80.500,53.500,53.500) ENVELOPE(140.012,140.012,-66.649,-66.649) ENVELOPE(-78.994,-78.994,53.833,53.833) ENVELOPE(-80.766,-80.766,51.217,51.217) ENVELOPE(140.012,140.012,-66.649,-66.649) ENVELOPE(-80.616,-80.616,51.267,51.267) ENVELOPE(-76.749,-76.749,56.000,56.000) ENVELOPE(-67.086,-67.086,-66.354,-66.354) |
geographic |
Baie James Baleine Canada Fort George Horden Hudson Hudson Bay la Baleine Moose Factory Nunavik Petite rivière de la Baleine Watkins |
geographic_facet |
Baie James Baleine Canada Fort George Horden Hudson Hudson Bay la Baleine Moose Factory Nunavik Petite rivière de la Baleine Watkins |
genre |
Études/Inuit/Studies Hudson Bay inuit inuktitut Inuttut Cris James Bay Nunavik |
genre_facet |
Études/Inuit/Studies Hudson Bay inuit inuktitut Inuttut Cris James Bay Nunavik |
op_relation |
Études Inuit Studies vol. 46 no. 1 (2022) http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1096498ar doi:10.7202/1096498ar |
op_rights |
Tous droits réservés © La revue Études Inuit Studies, 2022 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7202/1096498ar |
container_title |
Études/Inuit/Studies |
container_volume |
46 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1 |
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