Northern Michif and Seventhblade

In Seventhblade, the Ibinnashae (children of Ibinnas and non-Ibinnas) use Northern Michif as their heritage language. I was lucky enough to have translation help from Vince Ahenakew, an educator and language keeper from Île-à-la-Crosse, which one of the main communities that speak this dialect. Vince kindly fixed my attempts at translating dialogue as I am still very new to learning our people’s language. You can book him for speaking engagements, along with other language speakers here.

Michif, on its surface, seems like a simple enough concept. A mix of Cree verbs and French nouns, it became the language of the Métis, people and communities descended from fur trade fathers and Cree mothers. But there are actually multiple dialects of Michif, as each community/region has evolved its own way of speaking. The most common three are:

Heritage Michif – spoken mainly in the central western Manitoba, central Saskatchewan and Alberta, and down into Northern North Dakota and Montana. It’s origins come from the Metis who hunted bison on the plains. This dialect is a mix of Michif French (nouns) and nêhiyawak (Cree) and Saulteaux (Western Ojibwe).
Northern Michif – primarily spoken in the northern regions of Saskatchewan and Alberta, Northern Michif is very strongly influenced by nêhiyawak (Cree) and is considered by some to be a dialect of nêhiyawak, with a still noticeable, but obviously lesser French influence.
Michif French – spoken in communities that range from western Ontario to central Alberta, Michif French has its roots in older dialects of French, making it unique from Québécois. It is blended with Algonquin languages but is considered closer to a variant of the French language just as Northern Michif is considered a variant of nêhiyawak.