Michif

Location
Michif is spoken in scattered Métis communities in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada and in North Dakota and Montana in the USA.

Speakers
The number of speakers is estimated at fewer than 1,000; it was probably double or triple this number around the turn of the century but never much higher (P. Bakker 1997).

Classification

 * Mixed

Validity
The reasons for classifying Michif as a mixed language are given by P. Bakker (1997).

Works on the language

 * Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion, and Audreen Hourie. Metis legacy Michif culture, heritage, and folkways. Metis legacy series, v. 2. Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2006. ISBN 0920915809
 * Bakker, Peter: Spelling systems for Michif: an overview. In: La Lawng: Michif Peekishkwewin. The Heritage Language of the Canadian Metis. Vol 2: Language Theory. Barkwell, Lawrence (Ed.). Pemmican Publications/Manitoba Metis Federation Michif Language Program, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: pp. 11‑28, 2004. ISBN: 1-894717-28-7
 * Bakker, Peter: The Michif language of the Metis. In: La Lawng: Michif Peekishkwewin. The Heritage Language of he Canadian Metis. Vol 2: Language Theory. Barkwell, Lawrence (Ed.). Pemmican Publications/Manitoba Metis Federation Michif Language Program, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: pp. 5‑9, 2004. ISBN: 1-894717-28-7
 * Bakker, Peter: The verb in Michif. In: La Lawng: Michif Peekishkwewin. The Heritage Language of the Canadian Metis. Vol 2: Language Theory. Barkwell, Lawrence (Ed.). Pemmican Publications/Manitoba Metis Federation Michif Language Program, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: pp. 63‑80, 2004. ISBN: 1-894717-28-7 *
 * Bakker, Peter: What is Michif? In: La Lawng: Michif Peekishkwewin. The Heritage Language of the Canadian Metis. Vol 1: Language Practice. Barkwell, Lawrence (Ed.). Pemmican Publications/Manitoba Metis Federation Michif Language Program, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: pp. 5‑7, 2004. ISBN: 1-894717-22-8
 * Bakker, Peter; Barkwell, Lawrence: Storytelling and Mythology. In: La Lawng: Michif Peekishkwewin. The Heritage Language of the Canadian Metis. Vol 2: Language Theory. Barkwell, Lawrence (Ed.). Pemmican Publications/Manitoba Metis Federation Michif Language Program, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: pp. 83‑96, 2004. ISBN: 1-894717-28-7
 * Bakker, Peter. 1997. A language of our own: The genesis of Michif, the mixed Cree-French language of the Canadian Métis. New York, Oxford University Press.
 * Bakker,Peter and Robert Papen. 1997. Michif: A mixed language based on Cree and French. In S. Thomason (ed.) Contact languages: A wider perspective. Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 295-363.
 * Evans, Donna. 1982. "On coexistence and convergence of two phonological systems in Michif." Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session, 26, p. 158-173.
 * Papen, Robert. 2003. "Michif: One phonology or two?" In Y. Chung, C. Gillon and R. Wokdak (eds) University of British Columbia Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 12, Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop on Structure and Constituency in Language of the Americas, p. 47-58.
 * Papen, Robert. 2004. "Michif spelling conventions: Proposal for a unified Michif writing system. In L. Barkwell (ed.) La lawng: Michif peekishkwewin. Winnipeg, MB: Pemmican Publications, p. 29-53.
 * Papen, Robert. 2005. Le mitchif: langue franco-crie des Plaines. in A. Valdman, J. Auger & D. Piston-Hatlen (eds). Saint-François, QC: Presses de l'Université Laval, p. 327-347.
 * Rosen, N. Demonstrative position in Michif. Canadian Journal of Linguistics, 48(1/2):39–69, 2003.
 * Weaver, Deborah. 1982. Obviation in Michif. Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session, 26, p. 174-262.
 * Weaver, Deborah. 1983. "The effect of language change and death on obviation in Michif."In W. Cowan (ed.) Actes du Quatorzième Congrès des Algonquinistes. Ottawa: Carleton University Press, p. 261-268.