Shinchi's Canoe

Shinchi's CanoeWhen they arrive at school, Shi shi etko reminds Shinchi, her six year old brother, that they can only use their English names and that they can't speak to each other. For Shinchi, life becomes an endless cycle of church mass, school, and work, punctuated by skimpy meals. He finds solace at the river, clutching a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from his father, and dreaming of the day when the salmon return to the river a sign that its almost time to return

images and stereotypes

but how had they come to be in all of those places in his life

It is in the power of his language

she spent ten years in Indian boarding schools before graduating from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1902

yet few books in the field present Indigenous voices speaking directly about Native ways of responding to harms

our vision of Native Americans remains locked up within powerful stereotypes

and football

with answers to nearly 100 questions

Salmón teaches us the ways plants are used as food and medicine

done for it

The Pacific Northwest was one of the most populated and prosperous regions for Native Americans before the coming of the white man

original illustrations by Standing Bear