Books, Bags, and Babies is a ten-week program that
runs twice a year at YWCA Crabtree Corner Family Resource Centre. Led by two
Elders, the goal of Books, Bags, and Babies is to bring a First Nations
cultural component to early literacy practices for children.
Parents and grandparents, mostly
Aboriginal, participate in the program with their children and take part in drumming, reading, singing, sharing food, listening
to the Elders tell moral-based stories, and making various crafts and their own
drums. At the end of each day, the children select a culturally appropriate book
to take home along with their craft in a special bag (hence the name ‘Books,
Bags, and Babies’). By involving the adults, the program addresses negative experiences that parents and
grandparents may have had with formal education or in residential schools. It offers an alternative: a positive leaning
experience. “The program engages the
parents, and so they bring their children” says Nancy Cameron, Program Manager
at Crabtree Corner. “It’s family literacy in that it gives parents a connection
to their culture and how they learned language and ways of communicating”.
Husband and wife, Se’qwaiyenten and Qu:
Kwa are Elders from the Salish nation and have been leading the program since
it began four years ago. Qu:Kwa takes great pride in showing the parents
(mothers for the most part) and children how to make aboriginal crafts such as fur-lined
moccasins, rattles, and rainmakers that are decorated with beads and feathers.
“I teach the mothers how to pass the knowledge on. I show them how to make the
moccasins and they go on to teach others,” Qu: Kwa explains.
Over the course of their gatherings,
Se’quwaiyenten leads the parents and children through the building of their own
drum and drum stick. He emphasizes that
it’s not just about making a drum, but more importantly he teaches
participating families about the ceremony and sacredness that comes with
creating a drum. For example, Se’quwaiyenten
teaches the importance of giving thanks to the animal—a deer in this case--
that gave its life to provide the material needed for the drum. Those who
attend the program also learn from Se’qwaiyenten to place the drum face down
when they are not using it; not only will this protect the drum but it also
allows it to rest.
Qu:Kwa says that she and her husband teach the
children to give the first drum they make as a gift to someone they respect. She
tells how one boy who regularly attends the program gave his first drum to a
teacher, and then gave his second drum to yet another teacher. “I gave my drum
to him, and told him to keep it because it was a gift from me,” she laughs.
Books, Bags, and Babies will start again at Crabtree Corner in February 2013. Donations of children’s books are always welcome and can be made by contacting Tammy Munro at tmunro@ywcavan.org.
