Bilingual children’s book co-authored by late Cree Elder
A children’s book showcasing late Elder Ida Tremblay’s memories from the trapline was published last month and 300 copies have already been distributed to schools in the tri-communities.
When We Had Sled Dogs is a collaboration between Tremblay and La Ronge author Miriam Körner, who said they began working on the story near the end of 2017. After receiving a grant from Creative Saskatchewan to assist with production costs, the pair sped up the progress of the book and by May 2018, Körner was finished all the sketches. Those sketches were based from stories Tremblay told her about trapline life, which were recorded and later translated into Cree by local speakers.
“It has the stories of the season cycle of the trapline life,” she said. “Ida Tremblay used to live at McKenzie End (Point) and every fall they would pick up their canoes and make the five or six day journey to Nemeiben Lake, then up to the Churchill River where their family trapline is. They would spend the winter there trapping and returning next summer when her dad would work as a fishing guide.”
