Description
Shi-shi-etko is the French language edition of Nicola Campbell's children's picture book about an Interior Salish child with just four more days at home until she goes to residential school. The young girl of this recent offering spends her final four days experiencing quality time with her mother, father and grandmother. Each adult allows the child to experience the environment around her. Mother takes her daughter to the creek where she sings a special song that belongs to the family. Shi-ski-etko wades in the water and takes in all the experiences the land and water offer. Mother teaches her the song so that she will take this knowledge and remember. Father does the same as he takes his daughter by canoe out into the lake. Here he sings a paddle song that her grandfather once sang. Shi-shi-etko observes everything around her. Finally her grandmother presents the child with a special memory bag made from deerskin. In this bag the child will keep all her memories of her homeland and environment. The bag will help the child always remember when she goes off to a foreign environment of school. Grandmother teaches the child about the plants, roots and berries of the land. Shi-shi-etko promises to always remember the plants and medicines and tucks the memory bag into the roots of a giant fir tree. She offers tobacco and asks grandfather tree to keep all her special memories of family safe until she returns in the spring. Now it's time for the girl to ride the cattle truck on her way to school. The autumn-hued artwork resembles the work of the Group of Seven. The text conveys the poetic nature of the environment but does not mention residential school except for an introductory page. The text and images make it seem that the child is merely going to a school as all children do each autumn. The French translation is by Diane Lavoie.