Kohkom and Beulah

Gookum Math Mystery – Beulah was swallowed by a fish, it had to be a pretty big fish to fit a young girl in it's stomach. Let's figure out as best as we can how big that fish would have to be! By measuring the height of the girls in the class you should be able to figure out just how long that giant fish would have to be!

Step 1 – Who is going to be swallowed by the fish and how tall are they?

Figure out which person would be the most average height. You can do this two ways. Quick, easy, fun and less scientific would be to arrange everyone in height from tallest to shortest. Count from one end to the other to determine who is in the middle. For older grades you could measure everyone and total it all up and calculate the average. I know which way sounds more fun!

Step 2 – How big does this make the fish?

Now that you have the size that Beulah might have been you can compare that to the proportions of the average lake fish. How long would a fish have to be to fit your "Beulah" into it's stomach. Every species of fish is a little different but the most reasonable estimate is that the stomach is 25% of the fish length. Again two ways to determine the length of the fish. Easiest and most physical is to look at what ¼ means. One fish length to 4 people lengths. Lay the students down to make the fish length, et voila!

You can look at how Beulah would have been in the fish, stretched out or curled up? The second way to calculate the length of the fish is to measure Beulah using any form of measure from metric, imperial, foot steps, to hand lengths. Some times in life we don't have a measuring tape so we have to improvise. Way more fun to use a water bottle to measure.

You have the fish length, don't stop there!

Giant Paper - Once you have the length of the fish draw it out on a big roll of paper, you could even trace a student curled up inside the stomach of the fish or takes turns having their picture taken inside the stomach. If you act out the story this becomes a perfect prop, if you have two sides to your fish a student could go inside and "spill" out of the stomach at just the right moment! Gross but fun!

Side walk chalk – Head outside and draw the giant fish in bright colours on pavement or concrete. Take their pictures laying down inside the fish!

A huge part of Indigenous culture are games. The games are meant to be fun but they are often based on purposeful learning. Preparing children for work later in life. The Stick Pull game is a great example!

STICK PULL GAME - was used to help strengthen the hands and wrist of the Dene and prepare them for the fishing season. Often large fish swam along the shores and rivers enabling the Dene easy access. They would simply reach down and grab the fish near the middle of its back and throw it up on the land or shoreline. Though it may sound easy, the ability to grab a 20-pound whitefish or an aggressive Pike out of the water and toss it up on the shore required quickness, eye-hand coordination and incredible wrist and finger strength. Fish are often very slippery to hold and being able to grab a heavy fish out of the water is very difficult. So in order to remain strong and able Dene men would challenge each other in a stick pull.

● The stick is approximately 25 centimeters (12 inches) long, with a center diameter of 2.5 centimeters (1 inch)

● The stick has to be greased with Crisco oil or lard to create a very slippery surface. (The game can be played without greasing the stick but it can be way more fun this way!!)

● Opponents will sit facing each other with feet shoulder width apart with their feet pressed against each other.

● On the signal, “Ready, Pull”, the opponents to try and pull the stick out of each other’s hand. Students cannot jerk or twist the stick or bend the arm during the stick pull. Students are not allowed to lean forward or to the side.

● There are two ways to win the game, a student must be able to pull the stick back beyond his/her waist (or hip) and hold the stick in this position for a 2 second count or he/she can pull the stick out of the other student’s hand.

Credit to Roxanne Noltcho Sylvester – ECUR 352

Youtube videos of the Stick Pull game:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1kl9mEuEAE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrCz2S7A31c

*Special Note – Many games are shared between nations. The Stick Pull game is played in many other areas of North America. The first video refers to the game as Eskimo Stick Pull. The term Eskimo is controversial. This is an American video and in many parts of Alaska the term is acceptable. In Canada Eskimo is generally found to be a derogatory/racist term. The term Inuit is preferred, this is why the Edmonton Eskimos were finally changed to the Edmonton Elks. Here is a great website that helps with the understanding with this issue - https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/04/24/475129558/why-you-probably-shouldnt-say-eskimo

Introduction to Cree Beading – this one of the most significant art forms for the Cree people, a shared artform with Metis people. The two forms that we will work with are the flat flower patterns and the abstract geometric patterns. There are a few different graph forms that can be used, either as raw sheets to design their own pattern, replicate a pattern that they find or colour in a pre-outlined pattern.

The beading may have adorned Gookum and Beulah's clothing as well as the baskets she would have used to carry the water. CBC has a great site on what is meant by regalia and how it is different than a costume. This is an incredible opportunity to embed cultural respect at an early age. Here is the CBC link https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/do-you-know-what-regalia-is

History of Beading - Vanessa Halas and Alexandra Poetker

Beading has been an important part of First Nations culture for approximately 8,000 years prior to European contact. Beads were made of shell, pearl, bone, teeth, stone and fossil stems. When Europe first came to Canada they made an effort to develop good relations with the First Nations and beads played a significant role in these relationships. The beads that the Europeans gave and or traded were large ceramic pony beads, glass bead, chevron bead and tiny seed beads. The pony bead was around 1/8^th inch diameter and was used for bone chokers and breastplates. The chevron bead was also called the star, patermoster (our father's), or sun bead. It was a colourful bead and was more of an oval shaped bead. The tiny seed beads were called Manido-min esah, which means little spirit seeds, gift of the Manido. The first thing that First Nations began making when receiving these beads were necklaces. When smaller beads came around the beads were incorporated into loom weaving, Beads were then used in ceremonies, decorate clothing, baskets, dolls, which were then used to trade a the trading posts. http://aboriginalperspectives.uregina.ca/workshops/workshop2011/background.shtml

Beaded designs on Paper! *links to the printable templates are at the end of this section!

Easiest level of beading pages – Pre-outlined patterns and flowers, add colours

Medium level of beading pages – finding and replicating a design, add colours

Most advanced level of beading pages – creating their own imagery, add colours

Notes on colour – this is a great opportunity to teach a bit about colour design. What colours go well together? Which colours contrast? Think about light colours and dark colours next to each other? What happens if you put two dark colours next to each other?

You can easily work through all three levels, they build from each other nicely and give confidence as they go. They can even do each level countless times. Another interesting twist is to work in community so they could pair up and work part way on a design

and then trade and finish their partners design.

Math extension! – The abstract geometric designs are excellent for introducing the concept of symmetry and balance. As well, the simplest of multiplication, anytime there is a box or rectangle in a design you can count the number of squares that are in the length and width, multiply them to get the area or total number of squares.

*Special teaching note! Don't confuse these pages with colouring book pages. In the art education world colouring book pages are taboo! These pages have guidelines but still allow for creative expression and honour the individual work of the student. In a nut shell colouring book pages push kids into thinking that art is about realism, which at a young age is beyond their physical and mental development.

Here is a website that explains why colour book pages are a negative for artistic development - https://empoweredparents.co/why-you-should-never-give-your-child-colouring-in-pages/#:~:text=Children%20are%20creative%20by%20nature,fact%2C%20colouring%20books%20stifle%20creativity.

Beading graph pages https://artbeads.com/printable-seed-bead-graph-paper-free-designer-download/

Beading graph pages with a design - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b4ihgTNRa7HK3pBPtMMZVuKUVWE5NzXm/view?usp=sharing

Modern Cree visual art

It is important to show that Cree culture is not something solely historic. While Cree history is very important it is as equally important to show modern Cree culture. With so many nations sharing cultures and regions it can be difficult to create a clear definition of Modern Cree art. In terms of modern art I will include Cree, Oji-Cree and Ojibwe together as their modern traditions are so closely linked and as artists are unique to themselves.

The grandfather of what I would consider Modern Cree/Oji-Cree art know as the Woodland Style is Norval Morrisseau. His work has influenced and inspired modern Indigenous artist across Canada. The style is known for storytelling, flat areas of bold colours, strong outlining of curved shapes against vivid background colours. When you look at the beadwork done by the many Cree, Oji-Cree and Metis nations you can see the similarities.

I would like to start by introducing one of the most famous modern Cree artists, George Littlechild. He has taken the traditions of artists before him, modernized the artform and has kept a strong Indigenous advocates voice throughout his career.

Modern Cree Artist George Littlechild – A great quote from his bio on his website – " In my work, I am committed to righting the wrongs that First Nations peoples have endured by creating art that focuses on cultural, social and political injustices. As an artist, educator and cultural worker, my goal is a better world. It is my job to show the pride, strength and beauty of First Nations people and cultures, and contribute to the betterment of mankind."

https://georgelittlechild.com/

Learn deeper about Modern Cree Art by creating a visual story based on the oral/written story!*the section that follows has a video introduction to this art project, some examples as well as some templates!

There is a huge range in abilities in each grade level, when you extend that across the Primary ages the range is even bigger. I have provided a description of what to do for this lesson, followed by a tier of adaptations depending on your group.

Overview - Create a moment from the story visually, Beulah gets swallowed by the fish, this moment fits perfectly with the story telling of Cree visual art. A cutaway outline of the fish with Beulah inside. The characteristics of Modern Cree visual form would be: bright flat areas of colour, simplified forms, no detail, dark outlines, x-ray vision.

It is okay to use guided practice with this lesson, just not so guided that the hand of the young artist is not there. As an example, a colouring book page has no real hand of the artist, the design is completed by an adult artist and the students are only filling in the colour. Even with the Pre-drawn shapes and tracers the young artist is responsible for how the design looks.

Most advanced - draw their own fish outline, no tracers, draw a curled up Beulah inside, creative shapes and patterns to decorate inside and out. Interior colours to contrast with the exterior colours.

Tracing support - have a thin cardboard cutout of a fish (link to shape ), students trace around it and then fill in on their own. Have additional tracers of a variety of simple shapes that they can trace with.

Pre-drawn shapes and tracers - a large photocopied drawing of the fish outline, photocopy of Beulah that can be cut out and glued into where they would like her to be, additional shapes that they either draw themselves or cut out and add for patterns. Colour in bright vibrant colours. Simply providing a "colouring book page" completely pre-done should be avoided, if a student has difficulties with hand eye coordination then adding colour to a pre-drawn image is okay. This takes away any creative input and removes personal ownership of the finished project.

Teaching notes: drawing bigger is easier!! Wax or pencil crayons will work well.

See the Video introduction to the Modern Cree Art Piece right after this section.

More Modern Cree Artists

Jane Ash Poitras - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Ash_Poitras

Isaac Bignell - https://sa-cinn.com/isaac-bignell-artcards-prints/

Lloyd Dubois - http://www.sknac.ca/index.php?page=ArtistDetail&id=181

Nightsong Wapass – a great story of a young artist incorporating art in to make up - https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/nightsong-wapass-makeup-artist-1.5817605

Let's build an ecosystem just from this story!

Another very important aspect from this story is to introduce students to the concept of an ecosystem. Teach them how different parts of our environment are connected. The primary goal quietly exists in the background while they do this activity. That goal is to make sure that they include the humans in the ecosystem! We don't want to tip them off to this at the start, if they miss it, it is a great opportunity to build that learning on at the end. The best is if they catch on right at the beginning to include the humans. This would be the time to take a full stop and point out how amazing it is to include the people.

Where to start! – As they reread the story or listen to it again, identify all of the natural and living things that exist in the story. Once they are listed, identify what "category" of thing each identification represents. The most obvious is the blue Jay represents the birds of the world and the butterflies represent the insect world. What might be a bit more of a challenge is the rocks, the sun and the shore.

Here is the list of "things" from the story and for more learning if you want the Cree word for each –

Translated from https://dictionary.plainscree.atlas-ling.ca/#/help

Squirrel - anikwacâs-

Butterfly - kamâmakw-

Sun - kîsikâwi-pîsimw-

Rock - asinîsis

Shore - isikamâ-

Sticks - aýisipiy-

Leaves - kayâsipakw-

Water - aýisipiy-

Blue jay - kwîhkwîsiw-

Fish - iýinito-kinosêw-

Humans (keep this a secret!) - aýisiýiniw-

Ecosytem connections activity – They can draw the rocks, water and sun in the middle then draw the other elements around them. They can draw a simple line between elements that connect to each other.

Some examples: Fish to water, fish live in the water. Sticks to Blue Jay, jays need sticks to build a nest. And so on!

Extensions – either as a group at school or individually at home they can draw an Eco-connection map of their own!

*Interesting note on the story, most of the natural elements mentioned in the story are by group names like butterfly and rock. But instead of just saying bird a specific bird is mentioned, the blue jay! I wonder why?

Counting in Cree

When kids are counting in a new language it can help if they display what number they are saying using their fingers or touch the numeric version of the number. Another way to learn language better is to have movement and sound attached to the learning. Clapping and or hopping to the numbers works very well and is a lot of fun, this gets kids moving but more importantly deepens the learning. If your students are okay with some friendly competition you could have the all standing, if they get the clapping number wrong they sit, who is left standing at the end. Some principle with the hopping.

A note on using the English or French words - It is felt that it is better and more respectful to learn the Indigenous language without displaying the English or French words.

Cree counting videos –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02PHMfA3RFM Kids animated video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJTYRJxP9f4 Internet Elder 009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi2wmz_SxzI The Cree Counting Song

Other Cree language videos links -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eQOU15IQf8 Mini Cree lesson with Randy Morin, 5 Cree words

One through ten in Cree

one – Peyak

two – niso

three – nisto

four – neyo

five – niyanan

six – nikotwosik

seven – tepakohp

eight – ayinanew

nine – kikamitataht

ten - mitataht

Some important Cree people from history:

Chief Poundmaker, a great leader from the late 1800s http://www.poundmakercn.ca/about.html

Mary Greyeyes, the first Indigenous woman to enlist in the Canadian Armed Forces, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Greyeyes

Some important Cree people today:

Buffy St. Marie – Singing legend https://www.cbc.ca/music/read/buffy-sainte-marie-75-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-canadian-icon-1.5010129

Marlene Poitras – Indigenous leader and humanitarian http://www.afnab.ca/Regional-Chief/

Shane Yellowbird – award winning country singer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_Yellowbird

Northern Cree singers – famous pow wow singers and drummers - https://northerncree82.com/

Ethan Bear – Edmonton Oiler hockey player https://www.nhl.com/player/ethan-bear-8478451