Learning about the legends
Malcolm Lafferty shares Tlicho stories during Heritage Fair
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Friday, April 24, 2015
BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO ISLAND
Malcolm Lafferty says he's had the nickname "Pumpkin" for years.
"My grandpa gave me that name," he said.
Malcolm Lafferty, a Grade 6 student at Elizabeth Mackenzie Elementary School in Behchoko, is advancing to the territorial heritage fair in Tulita in May. - photo courtesy of Andrea Adams
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Spending time with his grandfather, Charlie Lafferty, and other community elders is how the Grade 6 student gathered information for his heritage fair project at Elizabeth Mackenzie Elementary School earlier this year.
"I got some from stories - some from the elders and books," he said.
Malcolm is one of the winners of the EMES heritage fair. He will now move on to the territorial fair in Tulita in May.
The goal of the territory's annual heritage fairs is to promote learning about students' cultures and communities, according to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.
It also helps foster research skills by encouraging students to speak to local elders and community members, as well as by looking for photographs and documents to help illustrate their projects.
Using both his own research and interviews with elders, Malcolm focused his project to share what he'd learned about Tlicho legends, including his personal favourite, Yamozha and his Beaver Wife. The legend tells the story of Yamozha, who meets a lonely girl and asks her to marry him. The woman agrees on one condition - that Yamozha makes sure her feet never got wet. When Yamozha fails, his wife turns into a beaver.
"He goes chasing the beaver and at the ending, he turns his beaver wife into an island," he said.
Malcolm also shared the story of How the Fox Saved the People, a tale about how a fox helped find caribou being hidden by a raven, rescuing the people from starvation.
His project also included information about the land near Behchoko. Malcolm said he became interested in sharing what he had learned during a spring camping trip with the school.
"I got to go trapping I got to learn how to fix the nets, setting up camp, getting wood and chopping wood," he said.
Malcolm, who also advanced to the territorial phase of the competition when he was in Grade 4, said he is prepared for the territorial portion of the competition. The key is making sure he can answer questions anyone might have about his project.
"You have to be keep on speaking about your board, keep on talking about it," he said. "We have to tell them where we got the information."
While he said he enjoyed getting the chance to talk to elders about local legends, Malcolm said his favourite part of the project was working on the display portion.
"I get to make decisions, I get to be more creative," he said.
No matter what happens at the territorial competition, Malcolm said he knows his project has already done what he intended - it has shared these legendary stories with fellow Tlicho students.
"So they could know their traditions," he said.
The territorial heritage fair is scheduled to take place in Tulita from May 7 to May 9.
