Picture Books
The Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak series tells the stories of the asiniskaw īthiniwak (Rocky Cree) and their life on the land of what is now north-central Manitoba. These stories are set during the mid-1600s before direct contact with Europeans in this area. They seek to teach young people about the old ways. Each book is set in one of the six seasons of the Rocky Cree: mithoskāmin (spring), nīpin (summer), tākwākin (fall), mikiskaw (freeze-up), pipon (winter), sikwan (break-up).
Amō’s Sapotawan is the second book in the Six Seasons series. It is set in nīpin (summer).
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?
Order individual copies or class sets through Portage & Main Press.
Pīsim Finds Her Miskanaw is the first book in the Six Seasons series. It is set in mithoskāmin (fall).
Pīsim Finds Her Miskanaw follows thirteen-year-old Pīsim and her family over seven days as they prepare for and travel through stunning landscape of Southern Indian Lake to attend the Spring Gathering and reconnect with relatives after the long winter. Set in mithoskāmin – the season of good travel – the book ends with Pīsim finding her life’s purpose – her miskanaw.
This historical fiction about the asiniskaw īthiniwak is based on the oral stories author William Dumas has heard throughout his life and other source materials from archaeology, history, and linguistics. Leonard Paul’s beautiful illustrations, based in hours of research at the Manitoba Museum, won the Canadian Archaeological Association’s 2014 Public Communications Award. Maps and side notes detailing the language, material culture, and history of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak accompany each page of the book. Order individual copies or class sets through Portage & Main Press.
Picture Book Apps
Note: These apps have been designed for use on tablets with an iOS or an Android operating system. Newer Mac Laptops might be able to download the apps if they have the Rosetta technology. While you may be able to download the app on some phones, they are not designed to be downloadable onto phones.
PISIM: The app brings Pīsim’s journey richly to life through oral and written narration in both English and Rocky Cree, songs, soundscapes, and interactive games. A substantial resource for Indigenous language and immersion programs and all classrooms, it can be used as a stand-alone version of the story or as a supplemental text to accompany the picture book. Download for free from the Apple store.
Download for free from the Google Play store (Android).
AMO: Amo’s Sapotawan is an interactive story brought richly to life through full-colour illustrations, songs and soundscape, games, and cultural notes. The Amo app is a remediation of the picture book of the same name by author William Dumas. Developed in collaboration with Knowledge Keepers and Elders of the Asiniskaw Ithiniwak (Rocky Cree) communities of northern Manitoba, the app features voiced narration available in Cree and in English; Cree text in both Roman orthography and syllabics; pop-up notes on the language, culture, and history of the Rocky Cree; and a fishing game as well a pottery game that encourage reflection on Rocky Cree culture. Download for free from the Apple store.
Download for free from the Google Play store (Android).
Teacher's Guides
The guide aids educators in exploring the picture book and picture book app in middle-years classes. It presents five thematic modules with suggested connections to all areas of Manitoba curriculum: Social Studies, Science, English Language Arts, Health, and Arts as well as Indigenous culture and language. Each module provides a guiding suite of learning activities organized by sub-theme. Many of the suggested activities are readily linked to cross-curricular themes in Indigenous studies, land-based education, and education for sustainable development. Teaching strategies are linked to extracts from the book and fortified with printable resources for students.
The Teacher's Guide can be downloaded on the Six Seasons website for free.
The Teacher's Guide for Amō’s Sapotawan is a free resource that supports teachers who would like to use the picture book and/or the app in the classroom. The guide contains four different modules on topics such as the picture book, rites of passage, pottery, and fire--all topics that are central to the story of Amō’s Sapotawan.
The Teacher’s Guide is intended to support educators using Amō’s Sapotawan and the AMO app in the classroom. It presents four thematic modules that include teaching strategies with suggested connections to Manitoba middle years curricula in Social Studies, Science, English Language Arts, Health, and the Arts as well as Rocky Cree culture and language.
The Teacher's Guide can be downloaded for free on the Six Seasons website.
Companion Books
In this illustrated short story for all ages, celebrated Rocky Cree storyteller William Dumas shares a teaching about hope in the face of adversity. This book is a companion story to The Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak series.
At the time of the spring thaw, the Rocky Cree fill their canoes with furs, eager to trade with the new visitors in mistiwāsahak (Hudson Bay). But not all of the new visitors are welcome. When the canoes return home to the shores of the misinipī river, the Rocky Cree begin to collapse one by one. Kākakiw struggles to help the sick as more and more people pass into the spirit world. Exhausted physically, emotionally, and spiritually, he seeks guidance through prayer. Hope finally comes with a visitor in the night: one of the Little People, small beings who are just like us. If Kākakiw can journey to their home, he will be given the medicine his people need. All he has to do is paddle through a cliff of solid bedrock to get there.
Order individual copies or class sets through Portage & Main Press.