Americas

Materials from the Americas

Amarurjuk

In this faithful retelling of a traditional story from the Kugaaruk region, told by Elder Levi Illuitok, a father must save his infant child from an amajurjuk, an ogress known to steal children. When the ogress takes advantage of the child’s mother being blind to trick her into giving away her child, the child’s father embarks on a quest to save his infant from certain death.

Amo’s Sapotawan (The Six Seasons Of The Asiniskaw Ithiniwak, 2) (Volume 2)

Rocky Cree people understand that all children are born with four gifts or talents. When a child is old enough, they decide which gift, or mīthikowisiwin, they will seek to master. With her sapotawan ceremony fast approaching, Amō must choose her mīthikowisiwin. Her sister, Pīsim, became a midwife; others gather medicines or harvest fish. But none of those feel quite right.

Amō has always loved making things. Her uncle can show her how to make nipisiwata, willow baskets. Her grandmother can teach her how to make kwakwāywata, birchbark containers and plates. Her auntie has offered to begin Amō’s apprenticeship in making askihkwak, pottery.

What will Amō’s mīthikowisiwin be? Which skill should she choose? And how will she know what is right for her?

The Ugly Place

A child makes their way along the Arctic shoreline on a dark day. Everything around them seems as ugly as their mood, from the weather to the fish and mud. This is the place they come to whenever they feel ugly.

But as the child closes their eyes and listens, the sound of the waves reminds them to breathe. The tiny krill flick their tails, and the brightly coloured sea stars seem to glow. What they once saw as an ugly landscape is now wonderful and vibrant, and alive with music and beauty.

Building on concepts of social-emotional awareness, this book helps young readers see that they have the ability to control their own emotions.

Inuunira

In this harrowing survival story, Brian Koonoo takes off on a hunting trip in Canada’s Arctic. After his snowmobile breaks down, his GPS loses signal, and his camping fuel runs low, he is left alone to survive for seven days. Inuunira is an Inuktitut term that means “how I’m alive,” and this account shows exactly how Brian managed to stay alive. He experiences close encounters with planes, blizzards, and hunger, all while much of his gear is lost. Walking 60 kilometres in search of safety, he uses the knowledge his father and Elders taught him—modern and traditional means of navigation, finding water, making shelters, and keeping his spirits up—to continue on.

Yossel’s Journey

Yossel, along with his family, flees anti-Jewish Russian pogroms in the late nineteenth century and settles in the American Southwest where he forges a friendship with Thomas, a Native American Navajo boy.

When The Sky Glows

“Sunrises and lightning storms, rainbows and volcanoes, meteors and fireflies-these beautiful, and sometimes frightening, events that light up the sky might seem like magic. But there is a scientific explanation for each natural phenomenon. Find out the science behind the magic in this beautiful and enlightening nonfiction picture book”–

Forever Cousins

Amanda and Kara are cousins and best friends in an intertribal Native American family; but Kara’s family leaves the city and moves back to the Rez, making both girls sad–but the summer reunion reminds them that they will always be cousins.