Gaawin Gindaaswin Ndaawsii, kimotinâniwiw itwêwina, & Nibi Emosaawdang

This September, Second Story Press will release a trio of translations for previously-published picture books of stories based in Indigenous peoples' experiences. By sharing these stories in dual-language editions, the publisher is inviting new readers of Plains Cree, Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) and Nishnaabemwin (Ojibwe) to draw personal connections with the text while also encouraging discussion and influence on English-language readers. This is especially meaningful and appropriate as we become more and more aware of the necessity to embrace all cultures and meet demands for multilingual editions of stories.

The English-language editions of the three picture books, both non-fiction and fictionalized accounts based on true events, have all been reviewed here on CanLit for LittleCanadians but here are their translations, presented in dual-language editions, which are set for release September 10, 2019:

Gaawin Gindaaswin Ndaawsii/I Am Not a Number

Gaa-zhibiigeuwaad/written by Jenny Kay Dupuis minwa/and Kathy Kacer

Gaa-mzinbiiged/illustrated by Gillian Newland

Gaa-aankanoobiigewaad/translated by Muriel Sawyer minwa/and Geraldine McLeod

Gaa-waadookaaged/with contributions by Tory Fisher

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-099-5

44 pp.

Ages 7-11

September 2019

English edition (978-1-927583-94-4), 2016

Reviewed here

kimotinâniwiw itwêwina/Stolen Words

omasinahikêw/written by Melanie Florence

otâpasinahikêw/illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

translated by Dolores Sand êkwa

Gayle Weenie kî-nêhiyawastâwak

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-101-5

28 pp.

Ages 6-9

September 2019

English language edition (978-1-77260-037-7), 2017

Reviewed here

Nibi Emosaawdang/The Water Walker

Gaa-zhi-biiyang miiniwaa gaa-mzinbiiyaang/written and illustrated by Joanne Robertson

Gaa-aankinootimaagejig/translated by Shirley Williams miiniwaa/and Isadore Toulouse

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-100-8

40 pp.

Ages 6-9

September 2019

English language version (978-1-77260-038-4), 2017

Reviewed here

Each of these poignant stories take on issues which are at the heart of the Indigenous experience, whether it be residential schools, loss of language and culture, or environmentalism and activism. The stories are well told and heartfelt but, with these translations, readers will gain a different perspective that opens up possibilities for learning, discussion and impact. I encourage teachers to make use of these editions, even if they have copies of the original English language versions, to promote those discussions and inclusivity, especially in a land where we need to do so much more to build supportive communities.

Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani / ᑭᓯᒥ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑉᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕆᔭᕋᓂ / Only in My Hometown

Written by Angnakuluk Friesen

Illustrated by Ippiksaut Friesen

Translated by Jean Kusugak

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-883-9

24 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2017

Just as all families are different and children should see themselves in the families represented in youngCanLit, the communities in which those children are growing up are vastly distinct.  Some are close-knit and small, others heavily populated and expansive, and still others remote with scattered populations.  By bringing their hometown to picture book format, Nunavut sisters Angnakuluk Friesen and Ippiksaut Friesen transport young readers to a community in which elephants are mining artefacts, raw meat is feasted upon and everyone is welcome.

In her text, Angnakuluk Friesen gives us visual snippets of life in her hometown of Rankin Inlet, an Inuit community on Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut.  Its history may include the Thule people and mining but Angnakuluk Friesen spotlights the personal life of children in Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani / Only in My Hometown.  It's about play and food, chores and the outdoors.  There's snow-shovelling, story-telling, watching Northern Lights and banding together during hard times and times of joy.  But Angnakuluk Friesen tells it without telling it directly.  It's all in the subtext of her words. 

Stories, images, memories

of spirits,playing happily, fluidly, chanting.

The Northern Lights can be seen in many places,

but they dance for me

only in my hometown.

Where I come from

glimpses of hope are always appreciated.

From Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani / 

ᑭᓯᒥ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑉᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕆᔭᕋᓂ / 

Only in My Hometown 

by Argnakuluk Friesen 

illus. by Ippiksaut Friesen

Similarly, her sister Ippiksaut Friesen illustrates each memory and experience with a focus on the personal.  It's the girl atop the abandoned mining equipment, the children amidst the laundry and scattered toys, a pair watching the Northern Lights, the family at their winter camp and a gathering around a newborn.  It's their life as they see it and experience it in all its wonder and hardships and fellowship.  Her illustrations are actually of two different styles.  One, as seen on the cover, is reminiscent of William Kurelek's classic A Prairie Boy's Winter (Tundra, 1973) of a life so vast in time and space that must be filtered down to just a few poignant moments that define it. These are all-embracing images.  But Ippiksaut Friesen also goes up close and personal, getting right into the faces, concentrating on the expressions of life rather than the landscapes of their hometown.  Both blend to illustrate the life that is Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani / ᑭᓯᒥ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑉᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕆᔭᕋᓂ / Only in My Hometown. 

From Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani / 

ᑭᓯᒥ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑉᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕆᔭᕋᓂ / 

Only in My Hometown 

by Argnakuluk Friesen 

illus. by Ippiksaut Friesen

Translated into Inuktitut by Jean Kusugak and written out both in syllabics and transliterated roman characters,  Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani / ᑭᓯᒥ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑉᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕆᔭᕋᓂ / Only in My Hometown tells both all and only some of what life in a small northern town can be for an Inuit child.  It is a book to share with children who need to see themselves in the book or learn about others.  In other words, it's a book for all.

From Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani / 

ᑭᓯᒥ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑉᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕆᔭᕋᓂ / 

Only in My Hometown 

by Angnakuluk Friesen 

illus. by Ippiksaut Friesen

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey

by Margriet Ruurs

Artwork by Nizar Ali Badr

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-459814905

28 pp.

All ages

October 2016

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey is a very important book on so many fronts.  At face value, it recounts in memorable artwork and text the plight of refugees from Syria, Nizar Ali Badr’s home, or elsewhere, now and forever.  But beyond bringing understanding to the refugee crisis, Stepping Stones is a book of encouragement to those arriving in Canada –the book is a dual-language edition in both English and Arabic–and to those who can contribute to the cause.

This is the story told from the perspective of a young girl, Rama, who recounts life in Syria, from the rooster crowing her family (Mama, Papa, grandfather Jedo and brother Sami) awake, and a breakfast of bread, yogurt and tomatoes, and memories of play and work, school and freedom.

But that was then.And this is now. (pg. 10)

From Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey 

by Margriet Ruurs, art by Nizar Ali Badr

But their freedom is an illusion, and after war comes, there is insufficient food and the bombings, and people begin to leave.

People began to leave our village.
First a trickle, then a stream,
across dusty fields under a burning sun,
a stream driven by hope. (pg. 14)

So too begins Rama’s family exodus, walking until reaching the sea, whereupon they “set sail on the waves of hope and prayer” (pg. 20), arriving on land where the gruelling trek begins again, until they arrive at their future, welcomed by neighbours who communicate with smiles and the sharing of clothes and food and more.

The lucky ones, they call us.
New memories, new hopes,
     new dreams.
Not of war,
but of peace. (pg. 25)

All told in the artistry of Nizar Ali Badr’s stunning arrangements of oddly-shaped and widely-coloured stones, Stepping Stones could be the story of any refugee family: a good life bombarded by war, a demanding and emotional flight from danger, and the arrival to a new life.  Though for each family the path is a unique arrangement of steps, its bearing is always the same: safety and opportunity.  Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey reveals this route with empathy and assurance.

Margriet Ruurs provides an extensive foreward that explains the background of Stepping Stones coming to publication.  She accounts her herculean efforts to contact artist Nizar Ali Badr after viewing his wondrous artwork of stones, about convincing him and Orca Book Publishers to take on the project, and arranging for a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the books to be donated to resettlement agencies.  The task may have been as arduous as that of Sisyphus but the ultimate story of Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey, both within and externally, culminates with promise and purpose, the hallmarks of a good life.

From Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey 

by Margriet Ruurs, art by Nizar Ali Badr