Status
Available
Call number
Call number
JP CAM
Collection
Local notes
Shelved in Aboriginal Collection - JP
Description
Juvenile Fiction. Picture Book Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML: Winner of the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and finalist for the Governor General's Award: Children's Illustration This moving sequel to the award-winning Shi-shi-etko tells the story of two children's experience at residential school. Shi-shi-etko is about to return for her second year, but this time her six-year-old brother, Shin-chi, is going, too. As they begin their journey in the back of a cattle truck, Shi-shi-etko tells her brother all the things he must remember: the trees, the mountains, the rivers and the salmon. Shin-chi knows he won't see his family again until the sockeye salmon return in the summertime. When they arrive at school, Shi-shi-etko gives him a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from their father. The children's time is filled with going to mass, school for half the day, and work the other half. The girls cook, clean and sew, while the boys work in the fields, in the woodshop and at the forge. Shin-chi is forever hungry and lonely, but, finally, the salmon swim up the river and the children return home for a joyful family reunion..… (more)
Genres
Publication
Toronto : Groundwood Books, [2008]
User reviews
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
In this follow-up to her earlier Shi-shi-etko, children's author Nicola I. Campbell, who is of Interior Salish and Metis descent, returns to the residential school experience of Canada's First Nations peoples - a heartbreaking process in which native children were forcibly removed from their homes
Unlike the previous title, which confined itself to Shi-shi-etko's experiences leading up to her removal from home, Shin-chi's Canoe actually follows the children to school itself, gently setting out some very un-gentle realities. The inhumane practices of such institutions - the fact that the children were punished for speaking their own language, were forbidden from communicating with their families at home, or even with family members also at school; the insufficient food they were given, while the adults in charge feasted on the produce of the farms run on the children's labor - is set out in the story. So too is the students' effort to hold onto what was good and comforting, in the face of what can only be called abuse.
Although it addresses some painful aspects of history - and, although set in Canada, it is a history that also has relevance here in the USA, where similar institutions flourished - Shinchi's Canoe is not unremittingly dark. True, it is a record of hardship and cruelty visited upon children, but it is also a story of surviving such experiences. I recommend it to anyone, teacher or parent, trying to introduce this difficult topic to younger readers.
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and families, and placed in abusive church-run boarding schools. As Shi-Shi-etko prepares to return to school for her second year, her younger brother Shinchi must confront his own first year away, and his impending separation from his family. Riding to school in a dusty cattle truck, he is reminded by his elder sister of the things he "must always remember," and, once at school (where they are not permitted to speak to one another) given a little canoe to remind him of home, and of their people's traditions...Unlike the previous title, which confined itself to Shi-shi-etko's experiences leading up to her removal from home, Shin-chi's Canoe actually follows the children to school itself, gently setting out some very un-gentle realities. The inhumane practices of such institutions - the fact that the children were punished for speaking their own language, were forbidden from communicating with their families at home, or even with family members also at school; the insufficient food they were given, while the adults in charge feasted on the produce of the farms run on the children's labor - is set out in the story. So too is the students' effort to hold onto what was good and comforting, in the face of what can only be called abuse.
Although it addresses some painful aspects of history - and, although set in Canada, it is a history that also has relevance here in the USA, where similar institutions flourished - Shinchi's Canoe is not unremittingly dark. True, it is a record of hardship and cruelty visited upon children, but it is also a story of surviving such experiences. I recommend it to anyone, teacher or parent, trying to introduce this difficult topic to younger readers.
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LibraryThing member stornelli
Sequel to "Shi-shi-etko". When Shi-shi-etko returns for her second year at an Indian residential school, her six-year-old brother Shin-chi goes for the first time.. She tells him that he will see his family again when the sockeye salmon return in the summer. They are separated for the year but she
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gives him a toy canoe which he hides and sneaks out to play with at the river. Their father surprises them with a real canoe when they return home the following summer. Show Less
LibraryThing member awhite43
I thought “Shin - Chi’s Canoe” by Nicola I. Campbell was an excellent book. This is the first I have ever heard about Indian residential schools and I found the book very interesting. I liked the fact that the author used Shi - Shi’s perspective of Shin - Chi’s experience to emphasize
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just how horrible these schools were. When Shi - Shi describes early on that she had her grandmother remove her braids because the teachers had mocked her and removed them the year before it it made me feel disgusted. The illustrators use of earth tones seem to pair well with the young children who refuse to forget their native american heritage despite the best efforts of the instructors at the school. This book’s main idea is clearly the importance of culture and the ways that education was used to assimilate marginalized groups in the past. Show Less
LibraryThing member gfurth
A tragic, beautiful story about a 6 year old boy and his sister who are Native American and sent to a residential school and not allowed to speak their language or communicate with one another. Based on true events that occurred for many Native families between 1800-1970.
LibraryThing member mkaray1
Summary: Shin-Shin, and her younger 6-year-older brother Shin-Chi, are sent to an Indian Residential school where they are not allowed to speak in their native language, or communicate with each other until the sockeye salmon arrive. Both children miss their family dearly, and have a difficult time
The central message of this book is about cultural awareness and learning how Native Americans were treated. I like how the author had Shi-Shi, the older sister, tell the story in the point of view of her younger brother Shin-Chi. The illustrations were not as detailed as I would have liked, but I still enjoyed the story of the book, and since I had never heard of Native Residential Schools, I learned a lot of information in this book.
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at the school. The girls "did the cooking, cleaning, knit mittens and scarves, and they laundered and sewed everyone's clothes." the boys "learned how to farm, do carpentry and blacksmithing." Once the sockeye salmon arrive, the cattle truck picks up all the children and takes them home. The family is reunited.The central message of this book is about cultural awareness and learning how Native Americans were treated. I like how the author had Shi-Shi, the older sister, tell the story in the point of view of her younger brother Shin-Chi. The illustrations were not as detailed as I would have liked, but I still enjoyed the story of the book, and since I had never heard of Native Residential Schools, I learned a lot of information in this book.
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LibraryThing member xliao
The book describe a boy and a girl how to use a kind of traditional technology to communication. The way is useful and effective at that time.
LibraryThing member dorthys
A heartwrenching story about the American Indian children who were forced to attend boarding schools. Being taken from their homes and denied any semblance of their native ways, they were forced to learn white man's way. This continued through Fall/Winter/Spring. In Summer the went back to their
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homes. Very good information for children to help them understand diversity better. Show Less
LibraryThing member barbarashuler
This was a very touching story that made me quite sad. I appreciated the realistic portrayal of what happened to Native American children when they were sometimes forced into schooling. I'm glad these books exist to help students see history through a child's perspective.
LibraryThing member MindyTran
This is a wonderful novel to use to teach children about the history of how Native Americans were treated in the past. It is also a great way to introduce children to the topic of cultural diversity and acceptance. Since the story is told from a child's perspective it can also help children connect
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better with the story and history behind the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member kacieholt
This is a story about a sister named Shi-shi-etko and a brother named Shin-chi who are forced to go to Indian residential school by the US government. They must go to mass and school for part of the day, and then work the rest of the day. The children were never fed enough, but also witnessed how
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well the teachers ate. The children aren't allowed to talk to their opposite gender siblings, but create secret sign languages to communicate. Through this all, Shin-chi holds tight to a toy canoe that his father made and that his sister gave to him, and as his sister promised in the beginning of the story, they are able to go back home once the salmon are running again. Show Less
LibraryThing member childrenslitpdx
This book uses two characters to tell the wider story of forced enrollment of Native Americans and First Peoples in church ran or residential schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. The effort was an attempt to civilize a population that was deemed uncivilized by the Europeans that moved to North
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America, by forcing them into schools where they were unable to speak their own language, practice any cultural traditions, or converse with each other. In this book, the author tells of the daily routine and hardships that the children go through during the many months that they are away from their family - and the joy that they feel in being reconnected once more. Show Less
LibraryThing member StephLamb
Shin-chi's Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell, illustrated by Kim La Fave and published by Groundwood Books is a beautiful sequel story to Shi-shi-etko.
This story follows the two siblings who are heading off to residential school, Shi-shi-etko for year two and Shin-chi for the first time. When the cattle
Once again, Nicola Campbell weaves the tale of the hardships experienced by our First Nations people being forced to enter residential schools. She describes the pain and the perseverance of these people to remember their homes and themselves in the harshest of circumstances. I love Kim La Fave's bold illustrations! They make such an impactful statement in their uniformity and sameness in certain sections of the story.
This book is perfect to share with your children as early as preschool. The more we share these stories the more we will learn and grow to towards understanding and reconciliation.
This story follows the two siblings who are heading off to residential school, Shi-shi-etko for year two and Shin-chi for the first time. When the cattle
Show More
truck arrives to which them away, Shi-shi-etko tells her brother of all the things he must remember and keep in his heart until he gets to return home again. He wants his father to build him his own canoe and as they get to school, Shi-shi-etko presents him with a miniature canoe made by their father. Their days are spent going to lessons, mass, cleaning, and work but once the salmon run, they will return to the bosom of their family to a joyful reunion and surprise.Once again, Nicola Campbell weaves the tale of the hardships experienced by our First Nations people being forced to enter residential schools. She describes the pain and the perseverance of these people to remember their homes and themselves in the harshest of circumstances. I love Kim La Fave's bold illustrations! They make such an impactful statement in their uniformity and sameness in certain sections of the story.
This book is perfect to share with your children as early as preschool. The more we share these stories the more we will learn and grow to towards understanding and reconciliation.
Show Less
ISBN
9780888998576