The Historica-Dominion Institute, the largest independent organization dedicated to Canadian history, identity and citizenship, is calling on Aboriginal youth between the ages of 14-29 to explore a moment or theme in Aboriginal history through the literary and visual arts. The Canadian Aboriginal Writing and Arts Challenge is celebrating seven years of the Writing Challenge and the first year of the new expansion to Arts. Participants have a chance to earn national recognition and win cash prizes and a trip for two to a Canadian city for a special Awards Ceremony attended by Aboriginal leaders, writers and artists.

“The Institute encourages young emerging Aboriginal artists from coast to coast to coast to participate in the new expanded Challenge this year, ” says Jeremy Diamond, Managing Director of The Historica-Dominion Institute’s National Office. “We anticipate receiving wonderful and creative submissions, in both writing and arts, and celebrating Aboriginal achievement once again!”

Deadline for submissions is March 31st. The stories and artwork will be assessed by two impressive juries made up of some of Canada’s most celebrated Aboriginal leaders, writers and artists.

The Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge was born in 2005 out of the success of Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada’s Past published by Doubleday Canada in which nine leading Aboriginal authors from across the country, contributed a short fictional story about a defining moment in Aboriginal history. Since then, the Challenge has quickly become the largest and most recognizable essay writing competition in Canada for Aboriginal youth and has earned large scale support from the Aboriginal Arts and Literary community. More than 1,000 emerging Aboriginal writers from every province and territory in Canada have submitted essays to the Challenge since 2005. Click on the Winners Gallery to read the past winners’ stories and follow along with this year’s Challenge here on Facebook.

If you haven’t read our recent interview with Métis author David Bouchard yet, then head on over there right away! In the interview we talked only a little bit about his recent book Seven Sacred Teachings of White Buffalo Calf Woman (More Than Words, 2009), which he co-wrote with Dr Joseph Martin, is stunningly illustrated by Kristy Cameron, and has an accompanying DVD with music by Swampfox, and for which Swampfox created seven flutes out of seven different woods, each in a different key.

David considers Seven Sacred Teachings to be one of his most important works to date. The seven teachings (Humility, Honesty, Respect, Courage, Wisdom, Truth, and Love) are universal to First Nations peoples, and are the strongest link between First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities. Read on to find out more, for in this post David explains in more depth the background to this fascinating and ambitious project, which brought together six languages: English, French, Ojibwe, South Slavey, Bush Cree and Chipewyan.

The Aboriginal people in Canada have had to deal with many negative experiences over the past century and more: but one of the golden, shiny spots from coast to coast in our country is the spirituality that remains intact. If you go into any one of our schools, any school from coast to coast in Canada with Aboriginal kids, you’ll see posters or writings on the walls that refer to these teachings. Different people call them different things. Among the Ojibwe people they’re called the Grandfather Teachings, amongst the Lakota and Dakota people (who used to be called the Sioux), they’re called the teachings of White Buffalo Calf Woman. Among the Dene of the north and their cousins the Navaho in America, they call them the Dene Laws.

But the teachings are very, very (more…)

PaperTigers’ current issue focuses on Canadian aboriginal literature.  I’d like to tell you about a quirkily illustrated and humorous aboriginal children’s title called  Jenneli’s Dance by Elizabeth Denny, illustrated by Chris Auchter (Theytus Books, 2008).  Jenneli is a Metis girl who’s a bit different-looking than her classmates:

She had darker hair and skin and her eyes were an unusual colour. It was as if they could not decide whether to be brown or green.

Jenneli’s one joy in life is doing the Red River Jig — something she has learned from her Grandma Lucee who lives in the small town of Lakeside, Manitoba.  One day, Grandma Lucee enters Jenneli into the jigging contest at the Lakeside fair.  Jenneli is horrified.  Will she do it?  Is she up to the challenge?

What I liked most about this book were the illustrations by Chris Auchter.  There’s something about the ‘flavor’ of the drawings and the details presented that gives the story a feeling of contemporary aboriginal life.  In the illustration of Grandma Lucee’s living room, there’s a picture of Elvis Presley hanging on the wall beside a macrame plant holder dangling from the ceiling.   There’s a magazine on the floor by Grandma’s knitting chair called “Inquiring Minds: Elvis Sightings.”  When Jenneli chokes on her bannock on hearing the news that her grandma has entered her into a jigging contest, the two are sitting outside at a picnic table with a funny looking bison observing them with a large bird (possibly an eagle?) flapping away into the distance.  It’s a Red River sort of scene, all right, done with the right symbols but with a touch of humor.

If you want to read a good aboriginal children’s title to your child at bedtime, I’d certainly recommend Jenneli’s Dance.

First published in 2002 and recently reissued in paperback by Groundwood Books, Lessons from Mother Earth by Elaine McLeod and illustrated by Colleen Wood seems to be a perfect book to share with kids on Earth Day. I haven’t read the book yet (am about to head to the library to look for it), but judging by this recommendation (originally posted to Amazon) by librarian Laurie von Mehren at the Cuyahoga County Public Library in Parma, Ohio, it sounds lovely. It seems to convey two very important aspects of aboriginal cultures: a deep respect for nature and the role of elders as culture bearers:

This book by an author born in the Yukon and a member of the Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation is about respecting and caring for the planet. Five-year old Tess visits her grandmother’s mountain cabin and learns about her garden, which consists of nature itself. The first rule grandma teaches Tess is: “You must always take good care of our garden.” Following that, she tells Tess to say a prayer of thanks while picking fruits and vegetables; to harvest just enough and at the right time; and to take care not to trample the vegetation or leave rubbish behind. For dinner, they gather wild edibles-lamb’s-quarters, dandelion shoots, and blueberries.

Wood’s realistic yet impressionistic watercolors are glowing and lush, with dabs of color for close-ups of berries and woodland animals. This book would work particularly well for Earth Day or as part of a nature/ecology unit.

Lessons from Mother Earth is also mentioned in Paul De Pasquale’s article recently reprinted on PaperTigers, Imagining Home in Children’s Picture Books by Canadian Aboriginal Authors.

Yes, this week’s Poetry Friday is here and we’re very excited to be hosting for the first time (and how great to be gathering together so many treasures of National Poetry month in the US too!). Please leave your links in the Comments Section below – I’ll be checking them throughout the day and updating this post.

My offering comes from David Bouchard‘s recent book, The Secret of Your Name/ Kiimooch ka shinikashooven (Red Deer Press, 2010). David only found out about his Métis roots relatively recently. In this poem he addresses his Nokum, his Grandmother. There is apology and regret for all that has been lost in the passing years – but there is hope too, because now that he does know, there is still time to discover his heritage and to proclaim it to the world. The beauty of this poem is that it is very personal to David’s own heart but also speaks for many, many Métis today, who did not, or still do not, know of their First Nations blood. And look very carefully at the beautiful cover (although I know it’s hard in a small picture like this) – Dennis J. Weber has drawn together in this one image all the longing, regret and eventual harmony with the past that comes through in the poem.

I’m sorry that I cannot sing
The songs that were passed down to you
The songs you heard your mother sing
The songs that I should own…

I’m sorry but I cannot sing
I did not know so I did not learn
I have yet to hear a single song
Sung by a Chippewa…

But I will go and seek them out
Then teach them to my children [...]

Our family will come to learn
You were a Menominee.

The book comes with an accompanying CD, with narration in English by David and in Michif by Norman Fleury, and with accompanying music, played by David on the flute and the “Master of the Métis Fiddle”, John Arcand. You can listen to the English version, including the insightful Foreward, here, while viewing the stunning illustrations. Our current issue of PaperTigers focuses on Canadian Aboriginal Children’s Literature and features a fascinating interview with David – definitely worth reading!

And now for the feast of verse that is Poetry Friday…

Danika from TeachingBooks.net shares audio of Robert Frost himself performing his poem “Birches”. How exciting to share this poet’s voice and rhythm with students – and indeed for all of us to hear him! -

and Tabatha has another audio offering, with Maggi Smith reciting Matthew Arnold’s “Mortality”: what a combination! And she also has a little Alan Rickman bonus too!

Mary Lee, from A Year of Reading, who is one of those awe-inspiring bloggers posting an original poem throughout this Poetry Month of April, has a beautiful poem today inspired by “something a child said to me at recess” – and it’s already inspired a poetry risposte in her Comments; I’m sure there’ll be more before the day is out. Don’t miss this post, either, for all the links to other National Poetry Month enterprises around the Kidlitosphere.

Laura Salas has an excerpt from “Hotel Deep” by Kurt Cyrus in a post entitled The Belch of a Blowfish - that should give you some idea! – and she is also host to “some great 15 Words or Less poems based on a ghoulish book cover” and invites you all to share yours too…

Jeni Bell continues her daily (wow!) children’s poem through April with this “Haiku-ish poem”, “At My Grandpa’s House“…

and Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s inspiration for her Poem #9 of the month, “Cat-Dog Secret” comes from an equally beautiful photograph of her cat and dog – plus she cites two books about teaching poetry, one of which she loved so much, she named her daughter after the author!

Ruth at There Is No Such Thing As A God-Forsaken Town focuses on Odysseus, with an extract from Louise Glück’s “Parable of the Hostages” and her own thought-provoking “Penelope Thinks It Over”.

Sara Lewis Holmes over at Read Write Believe has been collecting quotes about poets and poetry for National Poetry Month, and today features J. Patrick Lewis’ fifteen different definitions of poetry in his poem, “Poetry Is…”. “Which one speaks to you?” she asks – for me it’s 13, 15 and maybe 8…

Jama has, as ever, a mouth-watering post at Alphabet Soup, continuing her Poetry Potluck Series with Julie Larios’ “Domingo.” - and she shares Julie’s recipe for Tortas Mexicanas – I know what we’ll be eating over the week-end, and trying to remember the patter of Julie’s poem at the same time, no doubt!

Diane Mayr highlights poet Dorothea Grossman over at Random Noodlings; and Kurious Kitty looks at Wendell Berry’s latest book, Leavings: Poems. KKs Kwotes has a beautiful quote from Wendell Berry, too, from his poem “The Silence“.

David brings together in a single post, at his blog Fomagrams, all the haiku and limericks he has written this week – he’s aiming to tweet three!!! haiku and a limerick each day through April! Little Brother is already quoting the limericks – we love the nautical theme!

Jeannine Atkins writes about creating poetry from images drawn from history.

Christine Marcianik at The Simple and the Ordinary shares another installment of an original poem by her 13-year-old daughter, called Tessa in Wonderland.

Karen Edmisten joins in with The Thought of Something Else, by Wendell Berry.

Carmela from TeachingAuthors.com points to a poem by April Halprin Wayland and reminds us that they are sponsoring a poetry anthology giveaway (US residents only) in honor of National Poetry month.

At Enjoy and Embrace Learning, Mandy Robek shares Pairs and Clusters, an original poem about her backyard in Spring, inspired by Mary Lee’s “a poem a day” undertaking.

At Wild Rose Reader, Elaine Magliaro has a number of her original animal mask poems, two poetry book recommendations, and an invitation to readers to write and submit their own animal mask poems.

Sheri Doyle is in with an article she wrote for Appleseeds magazine, “Get Your Poems Into Shape!” So fun to see her words turned into objects like a kite, a light bulb, a guitar…!

Sylvia Vardell continues her glorious Poetry Tag over at Poetry for Children – today Marilyn Singer is IT – this is definitely a National Poetry Month game worth following! -

…and it just so happens that Stella at My World-Mi Mundo highlights Marilyn Singer’s book Mirror Mirror, “a great fun book of reversible verse.” I love the idea – we’ll be looking out for this one!

…as does Jennie at Biblio File, who quotes “Bear in the News” from Mirror Mirror – a double-take on Goldilocks – yes, we will definitely be looking out for this delightful-sounding book – and I like the look of Josée Masses’ illustrations too…

Tiel Aisha Ansari has a beautiful original rondeau that encompasses changes in perspective, called A Postcard Full of Sky, over at Knocking From Inside.

Doraine Bennett at Dori Reads has a poem about polar explorers, “I Had Been a Polar Explorer” by Mark Strand: “When they once set foot in frozen lands, they always wanted to go back. This poem… captures the longing.” – it certainly does…

Gregory K. has a new original poem by Alan Katz called “Ch-ch-ch-check, Please” over at GottaBook – and since last Poetry Friday, he’s also posted new poems from Laura Purdie Salas, Calef Brown, Carole Boston Weatherford, Jorge Argueta, Susan Marie Swanson, and Ralph Fletcher, too, “so I hope folks will come on by and check ‘em all out (Friday poems or not!)” – all part of the Thirty Poets, Thirty Days extravaganza of original poetry that he’s hosting.

Meanwhile Kelly Fineman over at Writing and Ruminating brings us an old, much loved poem, John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn“.

Jet over at The Write Sisters is in with “A Man Alone” by Stephen Orlen.

Julie Larios features heart-stopping poems over at The Drift Record, taken from The Wishing Bone Cycle, an anthology of poetry from the Swampy Cree tribe, gathered and translated by Canadian poet and novelist Howard Norman.

Mary Ann Dames features Julie Larios’ Imaginary Menagerie and says this: “Today I challenged my readers and myself to write about two animals as one. Read about wharks, birees, and rhinopuses. And, from Recipe Wednesday, you can make a Beetle Bop Salad to go along with the book of the same name by Denise Fleming.”

Mary Ann at Great Kids Books has a review of Nest, Nook & Cranny, by Susan Blackaby – a wonderful blend of nature and poetry.

Fiddler focuses on the links between poetry and music over at Rockhound Place with a celebration of “The Lark Ascending“: George Meredith’s poem and a video featuring Janine Jansen playing Vaughan William’s music.

breannep raises a smile at Language Literacy, Love with the heart-felt “If I Were in Charge of the World” by Judith Viorst.

Megan at Homeschooling on the Run shares a poem that is particularly special to her: “Oceans” by Juan Ramón Jiménez.

Heidi Mordhorst over at My Juicy Little Universe talks about taking part in Thirty Days Thirty Poets with her class and mixes seasons and metaphors with David McCord’s “Snowflakes”.

Janet Squires shares three fun/informative garden-themed poetry books: Busy in the Garden, I Heard It From Alice Zucchini: poems about the garden, and Slugs in Love over at All About the Books.

Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews has a review of Think Again by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Julie Morstad, and shares two poems from the book about Time…

Diane White shares the poem “Dean’s Tree” by Nancy Bo Flood. She says: “It seems providential, somehow, that the poem I chose to post is by my good friend Nancy Bo Flood. By pure coincidence, Nancy was a guest on PaperTigers just yesterday.”

[Sunday] A huge thank you to everyone for making this a bumper Poetry Friday roundup – I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts, both on Friday and, with a bit more time, over the week-end. What a fantastic introduction to hosting Poetry Friday this has been for PaperTigers – thank you!

Our April update over on the main PaperTigers website focuses on authors, illustrators and others involved in the field of Canadian Aboriginal Children’s Literature.

The First Nations peoples, along with the Inuit and the Métis are the three officially recognized aboriginal peoples of Canada. A tribute to their accomplishments, the new reviews, interviews and illustrators’ galleries currently highlighted on our website call attention to the richness of their literature and the distinctiveness of their voices and cultures. We hope you’ll take some time to enjoy these offerings and to encourage others to do the same.

Of course, we will be further exploring the theme of Canadian Aboriginal Children’s Literature here on our blog for the next two months. We would love for you to join in the conversation!