First Nations Version

Terry Wildman, the author of this work, has ministered to the First Nation people for decades. A couple decades ago, he started turning English Scripture into songs and then retelling them in a style that communicated in the Native American context. He eventually published a synopsis of the Gospels in a First Nations style, When the Great Spirit Walked Among Us. His work caught the attention of two major Bible translation organizations. They convinced Wildman to produce the entire New Testament in the First Nations style of English. The most striking aspect of the work is the proper names. The English "God" is not used, but other terms replace it. Most key terms are replaced. It is also a free translation, with much more information than a standard dynamic translation. In John 3:16, "eternal life" is rendered as "the life of the world to come that never fades—full of beauty and harmony."  It appears to be more of a cultural adaptation with considerable freedom, not, in a technical sense, a dynamic translation. It's not clear that Greek was consulted, but Wildman did use Paratext, but that doesn't mean he worked from the Greek. I think Wildman was on firm ground as he adapted English Scripture with songs and retellings. When he was convinced to call it a "New Testament" and publish it with a major publisher, I'm not convinced he produced something as useful for the First Nation churches.

I think this new work, First Nation Version, redefines the limits of a translation. Furthermore, it shows that Wycliffe Canada is committed to producing cultural adaptions as it expands the working definition of "translation". I think a very immediate question is what is the significance of discussing "quality" when there is a shifting definition of "translation".