The Read to Me! Program is launching a new CD, Ninen Na Mi’kma’ji’jk, a collection of songs and rhymes in the Mi’kmaw language for young children. The CD features traditional Mi’kmaw songs alongside translations of popular nursery rhymes like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Eensy Weensy Spider.

Read to Me! is a non-profit, hospital-based program that provides a free bag of books and reading resources to every baby born in Nova Scotia. The program’s resources are available in many languages, including Mi’kmaw. “Early childhood experiences play an important role in preserving language and culture, and this CD will bring a richness of Mi’kmaw language to listeners”, says Read to Me! Director, Carol McDougall. “We are very excited to be offering this important language resource to Mi’kmaw babies and families.”

Thanks to a generous donation from the Wallace and Margaret McCain Family Foundation, through the Ashoka Changemakers competition, Inspiring Approaches to First Nation, Métis and Inuit Learning, Read to Me! is now able to offer this new resource to Mi’kmaw families. Ninen Na Mi’kma’ji’jk was created by Read to Me! in partnership with Dr Bernie Francis and CBC. Dr. Francis is a respected authority on the Mi’kmaw language and an accomplished musician. The cover of the CD features the Mi’kmaw hieroglyph for the word ‘child’, created by the Mi’kmaw Elder, Jane Meader, of Membertou First Nation.

“Our langua ...

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