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The Book of Common Prayer | ||||||
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Inuinnaqtun is an Eskimo-Aleut language of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories in Canada, centered on Victoria Island and the adjacent mainland. It has been known by a number of names over the years, including Western Eskimo, Coppermine and Inuinakton. The Summer Institute of Linguistics classifies this and related dialects as Western Canadian Inuktitut. Unlike some dialects of indigenous Canadian languages spoken in eastern communities, it is generally written using the Latin alphabet rather than Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics. Statistics Canada figures identify the number of mother tongue speakers of all Inuktitut dialects as 28,000, but the actual number of Inuinnaktun speakers is about 2,000. We present here two partial Books of Common Prayer, one from 1922, and another from 1992.
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| The older book is titled Service Book of the Western Eskimos, published in London by the SPCK in 1922.
This book was used in the Diocese of Mackenzie River, which was formed in 1884 from the Diocese of Rupert’s Land and was subsumed into the Diocese of the Arctic on its creation in 1930. The table of contents notes that this book was “Compiled and revised by the Ven. Archdeacon C. E. Whittaker with many additional translations by the Rev. Edward Hester and the Rev. H. Girling.” Charles Edward Whittaker (1864-1947) graduated from Wycliffe College, Toronto, in 1895. He was ordained deacon in 1897 and priest in 1898 by William Carpenter Bompas, and served as Archdeacon of Mackenzie River from 1914 until 1918. In 1937, he published Arctic Eskimo: A Record of Fifty Years’ Experience and Observation among the Eskimo (London: Seeley). Edward Hester (1882-1945) was one of the first missionaries to work in Aklavik, NWT; he served in the western Arctic from 1915 to 1927, when he returned to England. Herbert Girling (d. 1920) was the first Anglican missionary to serve at Kugluktuk (formerly called Coppermine). His translation of the Gospel according to St. Mark into the Mackenzie River, or Siglitun dialect, was published in 1920. Griffiths lists this translation, published in 1922, as No. 33:2 in his Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer 1549-1999. This Service Book often abbreviates the services, and typically omits rubrics. It was followed by major revisions in 1949 (omitted by Griffiths) and 1963 (33:4).
TABLE OF CONTENTS Syllabarium 3-4 Thanks are due to Richard
Mammana, who transcribed this 1922 text, and to Thomas N. Rae, who provided the
original copy. |
The newer book, Atutit, Kengautillu, was published by the Diocese of the Arctic in 1992. It was translated by John R. Sperry (1924-2012), Bishop of the Arctic from 1974 to 1990. He was born in England, but served in the Arctic from his ordination in 1950. Besides this book, he also translated the four Gospels and the Book of Acts into Inuinnaqtun. The book appears to be a translation of the 1959 Canadian Book of Common Prayer and includes most of the services which might be celebrated in a local church. It includes the complete Collects, Epistles and Gospels for all the Sundays of the year, but omits those for saints' days. Only 20 of the 150 Psalms are included. The book is listed in David Griffiths' Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer 1549-1999 as 33:5. The book is presented here as PDF graphics, but with extractable text. Note that this text has not been proofread and will contain errors. The entire book is included, less the Hymns and Glossary. Download or read the Book of Common Prayer in Inuinaktun (size=28MB)
TABLE OF CONTENTS Uvlaam Kengautait (Morning Prayer), 1 |
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