Children's book funds mitt-making program
Sadee's Mittens tells story of Dene tradition
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A group of Yellowknife parents and teachers are raising money to keep a Dene mitt-making program alive using proceeds from a children's book they've created in partnership with a local author.
photo courtesy of Judy Whitford
Miranda Currie performs a reading from Sadee's Mittens during the book's official launch at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. - |
The book, Sadee's Mittens, tells the story of a young girl who makes traditional beaver mittens with her grandmother - a concept based on the same activity families take part in every Monday night at the Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS) board office.
"Once we started it, we realized there was a need for families to be able to do this, to be able to have a night out doing a traditional cultural activity," said YCS indigenous education and culture co-ordinator Judy Whitford of the school board's free beaver mitt-making program for parents.
The program started last year as a wellness activity for staff, run by an employee who makes traditional beaver mittens. When the group realized it would be a good way to bring teachers and parents together, they extended the program to the community free of charge.
Money from the school board's indigenous culture and staff wellness fund helped cover the costs of supplies like pelts and hides, which parents used to make mittens at two five-week long sessions last year.
"The families wanted to keep it going, but there was limited funding," Whitford said. "So the families actually started brainstorming different ideas on what we could do to raise money to keep the program going."
When the families decided they wanted to create a book, Whitford called up local author Miranda Currie. She has written a number of other children's books and frequently visits YCS schools to teach about language and sing songs.
Her latest book follows Sadee as she spends the year learning to make traditional beaver mitts with her grandmother - hunting, stretching hides and cutting materials for the final product.
"At the end, she's able to have her own completed mitts," Whitford said. "And at the back of the book there's a little pattern for kids to be able to make their own mitts as well."
The book is mostly written in English, but key words like "beaver" and the different seasons are written in Weledeh, Currie said. Weledeh is a Dene dialect with similarities to Tlicho and Chipewyan.
"It stands for a lot of what I want to be a part of, just being proud of First Nations culture," Currie said of why she chose to be part of the project. "Also it was a project that supported outreach in the community."
Currie launched the book with a reading from Sadee's Mittens at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre on Oct. 26.
She has since been visiting YCS schools with her moose puppet and a series of songs to introduce the book to students.
All the proceeds from Sadee's Mittens, which is available at the YCS board office, go back into supplies for the mitt-making program. The latest session began Nov. 7 and runs until Dec. 3, Whitford said.
"It was kind of a nice way for staff to interact with parents in a more casual setting," Whitford said of the program. "It's a night out for the parents."
