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Archdeacon McDonald's Translations & Publications

Over his forty years as a northern missionary, Robert McDonald translated the Christian bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and other religious works into the Gwich’in language with increasing fluency. His early Gwich’in translations were copied by hand, either by himself or by other missionaries who were trying to gain some skill in the language. 

Robert McDonald’s translations of the Bible and other religious materials were considered extremely important during his lifetime. The Tukudh Bible is still in use in the holy liturgy of church communities in Alaska, Yukon and NWT. In the 1960s, Richard Mueller designed a new orthography for Gwich’in and it became the standard. When the new writing system was adopted, knowledge of how to read the Tukudh dialect declined.

McDonald’s Anishinaabemowin (Cree) translations

In 1853, Rev. McDonald was in charge of the White Dog Islington Mission on the Winnipeg River, 240 km northeast of the Red River settlement. He learned and used the existing syllabic writing system and the Latin alphabet to translate the minor prophets. 

Archdeacon McDonald used both Gwich’in and Cree languages in his mission. In February 1899, he asked the secretary of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge about the Slavi [Slavey] books printed for Fort Simpson some years before, but never received. 

Example of Cree Syllabics

Fig 2 Cree Books.jpg

The Books of the Twelve Minor Prophets

McDonald’s Gwich’in translations

In mid-July 1963, Rev. McDonald started writing out syllabic characters for the Gwich’in language, which he called Tukudh, and put one hymn in syllabic form. He found that the language needed more characters than Anishinaabemowin. It is unknown how or if he adapted the symbols,

 

In May 1866, he completed translating a manual of devotion into Tukudh syllabic characters.  Many of McDonald’s students preferred to read with Roman characters so he developed an alphabet of Gwich’in sounds. Confusingly, this is also sometimes referred to as a syllabary.

 

McDonald never completely gave up teaching his syllabary, but all of his published translations are in Roman letters.

McDonald’s alphabet in Roman letters is included in his Tukudh Hymnal.

Archdeacon’s McDonald’s preface to the Tukudh Grammer.

Tukudh New Testament

Rev. McDonald started translating the Gospels in February 1871, starting with Luke. He finished revising Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in June 1873 and the Gospels were published in 1874 and 1875. The British and Foreign Bible Society in England printed the whole New Testament translation in 1886.

 

On 21 April 1888 Archdeacon McDonald packed up three cases of books in Tukudh for Mr. Wallis and Mr. Ellington, the missionaries at Rampart House and Forty Mile. The cases included 70 copies of the whole translated New Testament, 75 copies in parts of the New Testament “in Tukudh”, and 50 copies of the translated Watts Catechism.

By 1892, McDonald was also quite successfully selling his Tukudh New Testament,  often on credit, using the Hudson’s Bay Company unit of account, the Made Beaver. (In order to trade with Indigenous peoples, the HBC standardized the unit of account as the made beaver, or one high quality beaver skin. Later, they made tokens based on this value.)

The Takudh Bible, including Old and New Testaments, was printed in 1898 and the British and Foreign Bible Society took the New Testament from this edition and had it printed separately in 1898. The New Testament in Tukudh was printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1920, based on the first edition printed in 1886, revised and edited for this edition by Rev. Charles Whittaker.

Fig 4 New Testament.jpeg

Tukudh New Testement

Tukudh Old Testament

Archdeacon McDonald had the first five books of the Old Testament translated and revised by 20 June 1890. The first edition, called Mosis, involved many revisions of the proofs.  It was printed in 1890 by Richard Clay and Sons for the British and Foreign Bible Society with a note that it was seen through the press by William Day Reeve, Bishop of Mackenzie River.

 

The printed Joshua to I. Samuel bears the imprint date of 1892 but was not actually published until 1894.

 

McDonald finished translating the Old Testament in Tukudh on March 31st, 1896. The manuscript was sent for printing to the Church Missionary Society on October 23, 1897, and arrived at CMS on November 27, 1897. It was printed in London by Barlow & Moule for the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1898.

Fig 5 Old Testament 5 books.jpeg

Tukudh Old Testament

The Tukudh Bible

 

The Takudh Bible was first published as a single volume, including both Old and New Testaments, in early 1899 and bears the imprint date of 1898. The New Testament has its own title page but there is continuous collation and pagination. McDonald returned to England to see this edition through to press. The bible was not printed until after he finished his last revision on 8 February 1899, and he received two cases of Tukudh bibles at Fort McPherson in mid-October. 

McDonald’s translation of the bible, Old and New Testaments, was well known and he was invited to his old alma mater, now part of the University of Manitoba, to receive an honorary degree in recognition of his work. His translations remain crucial for many Gwich’in elders and play a part in the revitalization of the language for others. McDonald’s Tukudh contains many words that are no longer used, and they illustrate the richness of the Gwich’in language.

The Tukudh Bible is still in use in the holy liturgy of church communities in Alaska, Yukon and NWT. Today, many young people have difficulty reading McDonald’s translations because the language has evolved. The modern writing system reflects sounds more accurately and consistently. The Yukon Native Language Centre has used the modern system since the 1970s. The text below compares the first line of the Lord’s Prayer in Archdeacon McDonald’s Tukudh and the modern writing system.

Tukudh: Nyiwhot Ttyi zyeh zit ni kwilnjik

Modern: Nikhwatì’ Zheezhìt nigwìłnjì

Tukudh Bible

Book of Common Prayer

Archdeacon McDonald first translated portions of the Book of Common Prayer into Tukudh in 1873. He expanded and revised his translation in 1885 [1885 edition] and 1899 [1899 edition] and they were published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

 

The Anglican Church acquired the publication printing plates for McDonald’s translations from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1948. The Church reprinted the Book of Common Prayer in 1957. The reprint is available online.

Book of Common Prayer, 1885 edition. 

Isaac Watt’s Catechism

 In July 1863, Rev. McDonald’s knowledge of the Gwich’in language was very limited when the wife of a Hudson’s Bay Company employee, Mme. Boucher, translated the Decalogue and another hymn for him. McDonald translated Watt’s catechism into Tukudh, again with the help of Mme. Boucher, in June 1864. He finished translating and revising Watt’s Catechism in July 1865,

Tukudh Isaac Watt’s Catechism. 1806

Chilig / Hymnal

One of the traditions of northern First Nation gatherings is the sharing of songs. Archdeacon McDonald very much followed this tradition and he translated and taught hymns wherever he travelled or met new people. Tukudh Hymns, a selection of translated hymns, was first published in 1881 and again in 1889.

The Anglican Church acquired the publication printing plates of the Chilig and reprinted it in 1956. 

Other Religious Texts

McDonald finished translating the manual of devotion in May 1866, the communion service in October 1871, the burial service in May 1872, the baptismal services and marriage service in May 1875, the Collects in February 1882, the daily evening prayers in August 1892, and the Ordering of Deacons in May 1891. Nunhkotenua Kunash Yit, containing scriptural texts, prayers, and 16 hymns and addresses, was printed by Robert D. Richardson in 1886. 

 

McDonald finished translating a commentary on St. Matthew’s Gospel in December 1897. It was published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1921. It contains McDonald’s translation of Matthew with his notes in Tukudh at the bottom of each page.

 

McDonald translated, and the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge published, Short Catechism for the Instruction of Children in the Elemental Truths of the Religion of Christ, and A Preparation for the Church Catechism in the Takudh Language in 1899.

The Tukudh Dictionary

 In 1878, Father Petitot produced a dictionary with the grammatical structure of the Indigenous languages and a 367-page vocabulary of French, Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik, Hare, and Chipewa [Anishinaabemowin]. The dictionary, written in French, did not gain the same acceptance, importance, and impact with the Gwich’in as did McDonald’s A Grammar of the Tukudh Language originally published in 1911.

Robert McDonald’s translations of the Bible and other religious materials were considered extremely important during his lifetime. The Tukudh Bible is still in use in the holy liturgy of church communities in Alaska, Yukon and NWT. In the 1960s, Richard Mueller designed a new orthography for Gwich’in and it became the standard. When the new writing system was adopted, knowledge of how to read the Tukudh dialect declined.

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