"It starts with a book..."

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A Children's Literature Curation of Multi-modal texts for High School

Broad Question, statement or big idea:

How is an authentic Indigenous perspective represented in the literature I have curated?

Rationale

My goal with this assignment is to curate a list of resources which answer my question of: how is an authentic Indigenous perspective represented in the literature I have curated?  Often times and in particular in the past, Indigenous People have been stereotypes in literature and have not been the writers of their own stories.  I wanted to find literature which was authored by Indigenous authors (preferably Canadian), which showed an authentic Indigenous perspective.  What I discovered on my journey was a wealth of literature written by Indigenous writers which show the pain of the past on Indigenous communities and the lasting impacts of Canada’s treatment of Indigenous Peoples; but, also the resilience of Indigenous Peoples as they move forward.

 

Woven into all disciplines in the redesigned curriculum of British Columbia is the inclusion of Aboriginal Perspectives.  In the overview statement about the curriculum the ministry states that “An important goal in integrating Aboriginal perspectives into curricula is to ensure that all learners have opportunities to understand and respect their own cultural heritage as well as that of others” (overview, BC's New Curriculum).  With this in mind, I wanted to find texts which showcased Canadian Indigenous perspectives.

Specifically I wanted to focus my collection for the English Language Arts Department at my school. The redesigned English Language Arts Curriculum in British Columbia at the secondary level includes five big overarching ideas which shape the curriculum documents. I hope my collection will help teachers explore the big idea from the curriculum documents which is that “the exploration of text and story deepens our understanding of diverse, complex ideas about identity and others in the world” (Composition 10, BC's New Curriculum).   In addition, I chose to focus my curation on multi-modal texts.  With the shift in the curriculum and in the final literacy assessment at the secondary level, it is important to find relevant and engaging multi-modal texts for use in the classroom.  In addition, as Garrison and Gavigan stated in their article "Picture This: Using Graphic Novels to Explore Social Justice Issues with Young Adults": "The visual focus of graphic novels “reflects the image-saturated Internet, the transmitter for global culture” navigated daily by youth through their own devices, which strengthens the potential for learning opportunities”(2019, p. 8).  Students are drawn to graphic novels because it emulates their current world.  Teachers need to harness this opportunity for bringing new mediums of literature into the classroom. There are many powerful novels written by Indigenous authors which present an Indigenous perspective in circulation in my school (Indian Horse, Keeper in Me, Three Day Road, The Marrow Thieves to name a few), but less of other mediums.  By curating a collection of multi-modal texts, I hope to offer my English department a short-list of go-to texts for them to use in the classroom.

"It starts with a book..."

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I started my search in my school library and pulled a graphic novel to read:  Betty:The Helen Betty Osborne story by David Alexander Robertson and illustrated by Scott B. Henderson.  This slim graphic novel beautifully tells the story of the vicious murder of Helen Betty Osborne. It’s painful to read, but as Joseph Boyden states on the back of the graphic novel, “Betty is one of the most powerful graphic novels I’ve ever read. Its gorgeous illustrations only make the brutality of this true story pop to life off the page” (cover copy).  

Betty’s specific story was one I was unfamiliar with.  However, through my reading of the graphic novel I was inspired to do some online research about her.  This is what I hope students will be inclined to do as well. I hope that the literature in this collection will inspire students to inquire about topics.  It is also what David Alexander Roberston, one of the authors in my collection, suggests about the power of comics.  He states that “Comics are engaging and powerful [. . .] But, as with any story they often serve as an introduction, and it is up to the reader to continue learning” (Robertson in Vowel, C., et al. 2019, p. 82). 

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Through reading this text, I chose to see what else David Alexander Roberston has written and it was here I found a wealth of resources.  He has numerous graphic novels published which all have Indigenous characters as the main character and focus of the story and which offer Indigenous perspectives on a variety of topics.  Some of his stories focus on the treatment of Indigenous Peoples in the past and the repercussion of this while others are retellings of creation stories, and others still use elements of creation stories or Indigenous perspectives to deal with modern problems.  The combination of texts and graphics makes the stories compelling and hard to put down. 

Included in my curation by David Alexander Roberston are:

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Will I See by Iskwe and Erin Leslie, script by David Alexander Roberston and illustrated by GMB Chomicuk

This story highlights the challenges facing Indigenous women in light of the missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.

7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga (a 4 part graphic novel) by David Alexander Robertson and illustrated by Scott B. Henderson

This story follows a Plains Cree family through various historical events and the impacts this has had on them.

    -Stone – Looks at tribal warfare and finding hope

    -Scars – Looks at the smallpox epidemic and its impacts

    -Ends/Begins -- Looks at Residential Schools and the lasting impacts      
    -The Pact -- Looks at reconciliation and forgiveness within the family                  

         

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Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story by David Alexander Robertson and Scott B. Henderson

This story looks at the impact of Residential school on a character, but also her resilience and inner strength.

Powerful Collections

David Alexander Robertson has also contributed to several collections which include comics or graphic stories.  These collections showcase many talented Indigenous writers and illustrators. If I were to buy any graphic novels for my library collection next year, I would start with these three collections. 


This Place: 150 Years Retold (David Alexander Robertson is a contributor to the anthology)

  

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“Peggy” by David Alexander Roberston and illustrated by Natasha Donovan tells the story of Francis Pegahmagabow, a sniper from WWI and the most decorated Indigenous soldier in Canadian history. It focuses on his time in the war, but also his treatment afterwards.

This anthology contains ten powerful stories which present an Indigenous perspective on the last 150 years of Canadian history. The stories focus on lesser known narratives. 

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Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection (Vol 1) (David Alexander Roberston is a contributor to the collection)

“Ochek” by David Roberston and illustrated by Haiwei Hou

This story tells a creation story where Ochek sacrifices himself to bring warmer weather to the land. 

The collection includes sixteen stories from all over North America which focus on "showcasing the rich heritage and identity in indigenous story telling" (cover copy).

           

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Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection (Vol 2) (David Alexander Robertson is a contributor to the collection)

“Bookmark” by David Alexander Roberston and illustrated by Natasha Alterici

This story uses a creation story to help a character deal with the topic of suicide.

Volume 2 adds fourteen more stories to the Moonshot collection.

Moving Beyond David Alexander Robertson

After searching out texts by David Alexander Robertson, I ended up on the Strong NationsWebsite. It’s one I had heard about before through work, but not looked at closely.  The remainder of my collection was sourced from Strong Nations as it is such a comprehensive site.  The strength of the site for Educators is that it provides information on whether the text in question includes Canadian content and whether it has Indigenous text or artwork.  I went back to my school to find as many copies of the selected texts as I could, visited the public library and purchased those I could not borrow.  Through reading the various texts I chose, I concluded my collection with the following texts:

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Pemmican Wars: A Girl Called Echo, Vol 1  by Katherene Vermette, illustrated by Scott B. Henderson and coloured by Donovan Yaciuk.

This graphic novel tells the story of Echo Desjardins, a young Metis girl, who is struggling with being in a new home and school. The story intertwines present day narrative with flashbacks to the past when Echo is temporally transported back to a Bison Hunt.

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Red River Rebellion: A Girl Called Echo, Vol 2 by Katherene Vermette, illustrated by Scott B. Henderson and coloured by Donovan Yaciuk.

This graphic novel continues the story of Echo Desjardins in both present day and the past. In this segment Echo is transported back to the Red River settlement when problems between the inhabitants of Red River and the Canadian government start to occur. 

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Surviving the City by Tasha Spillet and illustrated by Natasha Donovan

This graphic novel tells the story of two teen Indigenous girls. It focuses on the challenges these characters face growing up Indigenous in the city.

Beyond Graphic Novels

I could have continued to add more graphic novels to my collection, but in order to diversify I found two compelling picture books to add to my curation.  Both are heartbreaking to read, but also end with a powerful message of resilience. 

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Stolen Words Melanie Florence and illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

This picture book tells the story of a little girl and her grandpa and looks at the lasting impact of Residential schools.

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Missing Nimama by Melanie Florence and illustrated by Francois Thisdale

This picture book tells the story of a young Indigenous girl who has lost her mother.  It focuses attention on the missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada.

Final Thoughts

Woven throughout this multi-modal collection are texts which are authored by Indigenous Peoples and which reference Indigenous culture, language and heritage. Each story provides a glimpse into what it has meant or what it means to be Indigenous in Canada.  The stories do no contain stereotypes or generalizations but rather represent an authentic Indigenous perspective.  They look at the strength of Indigenous Peoples and the resilience of their communities.  There is so much potential for teachers using these texts in the classroom; I am excited to purchase many of these texts for my library this fall.  

References

(2015, November 05). Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne story [video file]. Retrieved July 29, 2019, from https://youtu.be/tkzhhVADzdM

(2019, April 18). This place: 150 years retold  [video file] Retrieved July 29, 2019, from https://youtu.be/uzK_Pqt9Jm8?list=PL6afa0EvyC2_d8pF5qaRRkxhZ_eTZk0tU

BC's New Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2019, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/overview

BC's New Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2019, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/english-language-arts/10/composition4

Florence, M., & Thisdale, F. (2015). Missing Nimama Richmond Hill, Ontario: Clockwise Press.

Florence, M., & Grimard, G. (2017). Stolen words. Toronto, Ontario: Second Story Press.

Garrison, K. L., & Gavigan, K. (2019, 02). Picture this: Using graphic novels to explore social justice issues with young adults. Teacher Librarian, 46, 8-12. 

Nicholson, H. (Ed.). (2017). Moonshot: The indigenous comics collection (Vol. 1). Toronto, Canada: Alternate History Comics.

Nicholson, H. (Ed.). (2017). Moonshot: The indigenous comics collection (Vol. 2). Toronto: Alternate History Comics.

Robertson, D., & Henderson, S. B. (2010). Stone. Winnipeg: HighWater Press.

Robertson, D., & Henderson, S. B. (2010). Scars. Winnipeg: HighWater Press.

Robertson, D., & Henderson, S. B. (2010). Ends/begins. Winnipeg: HighWater Press.

Robertson, D., & Henderson, S. B. (2011). The Pact. Winnipeg: HighWater Press

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Robertson, D., & Henderson, S. B. (2011). Sugar falls: A residential school story. Winnipeg: HighWater Press.

Robertson, D., & Henderson, S. B. (2015). Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne story. Portage & Main Press.

Robertson, D., Chomichuk, G. M., Iskwé, & Leslie, E. (2016). Will I see? Winnipeg, Manitoba: HighWater Press.

Spillett, T., & Donovan, N. (2019). Surviving the city. Winnipeg, Manitoba: HighWater Press.

Vermette, K., Henderson, S. B., & Yaciuk, D. (2017). Pemmican wars (Vol. 1, A Girl Called Echo). Winnipeg, Manitoba: Highwater Press.

Vermette, K., Henderson, S. B., & Yaciuk, D. (2018). Red River resistance (Vol. 2, A Girl Called Echo). Winnipeg, Manitoba: Highwater Press.

Vowel, C., Vermette, K., Camp, R. V., Storm, J., Sinclair, N. J., Robertson, D. A., . . . Akiwenzi-Damm, K. (2019). This place: 150 years retold. HighWater Press.