"Cradle Songs of Southeast Alaska" teaches traditional lullaby songs in all three Southeast Alaska languages. Cradle Songs is the institute’s first fully trilingual book, which features Lingít (Tlingit), X̱aad Kíl (Haida) and Sm'algya̱x (Tsimshian) old and new songs, English translations, and a CD.
The first two Lingít songs are attributed to Kaal.átk (Charlie Joseph) and the third one to Clara Peratrovich, who learned it from her grandmother. The versions in SHI’s book were adapted from Ed Littlefield’s 2011 CD, Walking Between Worlds.
The X̱aad Kíl songs were adapted from texts owned by the Hlii'ilaang Kun 'Lan-gáay and HIGaa'xatgu 'Láanaas families, as recorded by John Swanton. The translations and modern orthography were done by Skíl Jáadei (Linda Schrack), Kwíigaay Í'waans (Phyllis Almquist) and llskyalas (Delores Churchill).
The Sm'algyax cradle songs are new works composed by Nancy Barnes and The Haayk Foundation, which, along with Mique'l Dangeli, provided the translations.
The book was illustrated by Tlingit Athabascan artist Crystal Kaakeeyáa Worl.
The CD features songs and spoken word performances by Ed Littlefield, Skíl Jáadei, Nancy Barnes, Nancy Evelyn Barnes, Katie Price, and David R. Boxley.
This book and CD are part of Sealaska Heritage Institute's award-winning Baby Raven Reads, a program for Alaska Native families with children up to age 5 that promotes language development and school readiness.