Series consists of a recording of the CBC Radio Calgary 1010 musical variety program "Voices of the First Nations," likely broadcast in 1995. Cassettes contain part 1, 2, and 3. The program highlights instrumental music, drumming, song, and story from a range of performers. Topics include: heritage, religion, childhood, education, legacy. Insert for all cassettes containers has cover design with CBC logo at top left, over black and white illustration by Dale Auger. Credits for each episode are listed on inside of cassette inserts.

Sub-series consists of 32 cassettes, recorded between 1955 and the end of the 1970s, created to accompany the Cree language course developed by C. Douglas Ellis. First published in 1962, the course was revised and reissued in 3 volumes in 2000. Tapes correspond to lessons in Spoken Cree: Level I and Spoken Cree: Level II. Instruction is in the N-Dialect, or Swampy Cree, spoken on the west coast of James Bay. Guidelines for applying lessons to the L-Dialect are given in audio.

Sub-series consists of lessons recorded on 35 cassettes with spine label Cree A3 and 29 cassettes labeled Cree A5 ; These correspond to the textbooks "Cours de Cris: Première Degré," and "Cours de Cris: Deuxième Degré." Both texts are authored by Louis-Philippe Vaillancourt, and published by Les Presses de l’Université du Quebéc.
The focus of instruction is Cree as spoken on the east coast of James Bay, and lessons are presented with the participation of residents from Wemindji and Eastmain. Lessons on the A3 cassettes center on building a basic vocabulary through listening and repetition, lessons on the A5 cassettes concentrate on transitive and intransitive verbs. The sub-series also contains one folder of plastic sleeves holding 25 compact discs. Discs are labeled to correspond to audio cassettes in the A3 series, likely from an earlier format transfer project.

Series consists of audio cassettes of beginner level Cree language lessons, created to accompany texts by C. D. Ellis and Louis- Philippe Vaillancourt. Also included in the series are 25 compact discs which contain recordings of the lessons from the Vaillancourt A3 tapes.

The collection consists primarily of recordings on audio cassette of beginner-level language lessons in Ojibwa, Cree, and Inuktitut; authored variously by Basil Johnston, S.T. Mallon et al., C. Douglas Ellis et al., and Louis-Philippe Vaillancourt. The majority of the included material dates from the 1970s. The accompanying language learning texts for the Ojibwa and Inuktitut audiocassettes are included in the collection, along with duplicate recordings of 35 of the Cree audiocassettes on 25 compact discs. The collection also contains a recording of the 1995 CBC Calgary radio program "Voices of the First Nations : The Prairies."

Series consists of audiocassettes and textbooks of beginner level Inuktitut language lessons. Included in the series is the textbook "Innutitut Kuujjuamiutitut (Fort Chimo dialect)," by C.D. Ellis and J. Patridge, and the corresponding audio cassettes; these comprise a course created for research and field personnel who plan to work in Arctic Quebec. Course instruction covers the Fort Chimo [now Kuujjuaq] dialect, and is an adaptation of S.T. Mallon’s Inuktitut publications; audiocassette lessons follow the textbook edition revised in 1977 with the collaboration of M. Aitchison, and published by the McGill University Centre for Northern Studies and Research in 1978. 5 master audiocassettes, recorded on both sides, contain complete lesson audio. 10 student audio cassettes, recorded on side A only, contain duplicates of master recordings. Also included in series is an introductory level textbook of Inuktitut as spoken in the Frobisher Bay [now Nunavik] region: "Inuktitut Phase One," by S.T. Mallon & Staff [of] Inuktitut Learning Services, Frobisher Bay N.W.T. (1974-1977), published by the Department of Education, Northwest Territories.

Series consists of cassettes of beginner level Ojibwa language lessons and accompanying textbook "The Ojibway language Course Outline for Beginners," by Basil Johnston. The series includes one edition of this textbook, and two spiral-bound copies of the original compiled from photocopies.
Johnston’s course was published in 1978 by the Indian and Inuit Affairs Program (now Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs), Education and Cultural Support Branch, under the authority of Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs J. Hugh Falkner. Lessons cover nouns and commonly used verbs, followed by an extensive list of prefix and suffix modifiers. The lesson format emphasizes listening and repetition.