'Owl of us Matter': Sask. author’s new book teaches children about Indigenous history
A University of Regina student has created a children’s book as a resource to teach kids about Indigenous history.
Natasha Halliwell wrote “Owl of Us Matter” as part of a school project, opting to replace humans with owls in the historical retelling.
“I do not like having labels like settlers and savages so I wanted to get rid of that,” said Halliwell. “I think that a way to do that was to get rid of the humans and bring in the owls.”
The book teaches children about the history of Treaty 7.
“There's a pretty dark history but it doesn't mean we all have to get angry about it,” said Halliwell. “We need to be able to learn to forgive and accept things in order to teach our young ones and get somewhere else in life.”
Halliwell admitted the process of going through the history was tough.
”When you're Indigenous and you hear about your ancestors it kind of gets you upset but then at the same time it leaves you hopeless and defeated because where are we now? What do you see out there?” said Halliwell.
Providing an educational tool for kids is important to Halliwell, as she said resources like her book were not widely available when she was a child.
“I think having something like this available, it gives you identity in yourself, and it gives you feelings of love and it doesn't reopen that scar,” said Halliwell.
Halliwell’s next goal is to get the book widely published, which can be a difficult process for some Indigenous authors.
Solomon Ratt, an associate professor at the First Nations University of Canada (FNUC), said large publishing companies often shy away from Indigenous writers.
“They're not interested in publishing First Nations authors because only a few people want to buy the books, there is no potential of making money out of this.” said Ratt.
Ratt added Indigenous authors should not shy away from trying to get published, due to the lack of publishers.
“Our stories tell our history, our experiences tell our history and this is why we have to make these stories available to our children or grandchildren,” said Ratt
“To be able to tell our stories and see where we come from because we are putting our stories out from our perspective, it really rather than colonial history perspective.”
Dr. Angelina Weenie, another associate professor at the FNUC, said Indigenous authors are a necessity, to help represent the community.
“For the longest time, other people wrote about us, wrote our stories and it's time for us to share perspectives or knowledge,” said Weenie.
The more Indigenous authors in the community, the more we can find these books in school systems.
Ratt hopes with increased Indigenous representation among authors, more books with an Indigenous perspective will be found in schools.
“It is so essential to have these in the public school systems because we have to create readers of our children,” said Ratt. “We have to be able to have these stories available to parents so they read them to their children.”
Halliwell is hoping her book teaches children about Indigenous history and forgiveness.
“Forgiveness for the ancestors, for all the newcomers, and then new ones,” said Halliwell.
Ratt said he plans to translate Halliwell’s book to Cree in the near future, to provide more books in Indigenous languages.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.