Meet Julie Flett: Book Week Artist: the award winning Cree-Metis artist, Julie Flett, talks to the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Sandra O'Brien about her work, her recent books and her First Nation Communities READ tour.
Explain the process you went through to create the captivating image you designed for the TD Canadian Children's Book Week 2015 poster. Is this similar to the process you undertake to create illustrations for books?JF: The process was similar to working on children's books. I always start with the text when I'm working on someone else's project. The text I was working with--Hear Our Stories: Celebrating First Nations, Metis and Inuit Literature--made me think about the intimacy of reading to a child, the intimacy of storytelling and how 'hearing' the story, whether being read to or reading, brings the story to life in the process. I often think of Thomas King's quote: "The truth about stories is, that's all we are."
The preservation and revitalization of indigenous languages is important to you. Did you grow up speaking an indigenous language and, if so, which one(s)?
JF: My grandparents were multilingual; between the two of them five languages were spoken. For the most part, the languages were not passed down. Just before my grandfather passed away, I asked him if he would speak to me in his language--he did, he spoke to me in Cree. Although he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's at the time, he had no problem remembering Cree.
I came across a quote recently that made me think about my grandparents--and the reasons that I am drawn to do the work I do with languages:
My grandchild, do not quit ...
It will take you a long way but do not forget your Cree
language--that will take you home.
John Cabry, Samson Cree
Which of your books have been translated and into which languages?
JF: The first book project I worked on, Owls See Clearly at Night (Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak Iii Swer): A Michif Alphabet, is an introduction to Michif. The Michif language is one of the languages of the Metis people. It's a mixed language, combining Cree and French, with some additional borrowing from English and First Nation languages such as Ojibwe and Assiniboine.
The other four books I've worked on have been translated into Cree. There are several dialects of Cree--the bilingual version of Wild Berries is translated into the n-dialect, also known as Swampy Cree from the Cumberland House region. We also produced another version, Pakwa che menisu, using the n-dialect Cree, from Cross Lake, Norway House region. The bilingual version has a pronunciation guide and the Cree version has a syllabics chart.
The Cree numbers for the book We All Count: A Book of Cree Numbers are written in the y-dialect of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan (known as Plains Cree or Nehiyawewin) and in the n-dialect (known as Swampy Cree or Nehinawewin) spoken in Manitoba and the Saskatchewan communities of Cumberland House and Shoal Lake.
There were so many gracious people and organizations involved in translations for the books. Metis language activist Heather Souter; Grace (Ledoux) Zoldy and Dr. Nicole Rosen, Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages, University of Lethbridge, worked on the translations and pronunciation guide for Owls See Clearly at Night (Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak Iii Swer): A Michif Alphabet. Earl Cook translated the Cree words for Wild Berries, the bilingual version and Jennifer Thomas for Pakwa che menisu. Aboriginal Languages Manitoba helped to create and oversee the syllabics chart. We All Count: A Book of Cree Numbers and the new colour book were translated by Arden Ogg, Solomon Ratt and Arok Wolvengrey of the Cree Literacy Network.
The projects would not have come to be without the support of all of our speakers and Indigenous language scholars, linguists and supporters.
Tell us about your training in fine arts and how long you've been working in this area. What inspires your artwork? Do you draw inspiration from other artists?
JF: I studied Fine Arts at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and went on to finish my degree at Concordia University. I studied painting, drawing, film and textiles; most of my work was multimedia based at the time. I was asked to do an illustration project a number of years after I graduated so I had to learn as I was going along. Much of the bookwork I do is influenced by painters and printmakers from earlier periods--Paul Klee, Amrita Sher-Gil, Agnes Martin, Sheojuk Etidlooie, Kenojuak Ashevak and filmmakers Andrei Tarkovsky and Yuriy Norshteyn. I also have a love of children's book illustration from earlier periods, and there's some incredible contemporary work that inspires me to keep up, the work of Jon Klassen, Julie Morstad and Carmen Lomas Garza--to name just a few.
Besides illustrations for children's books, do you illustrate for other publications or work in another field? Tell us about some of the projects you're working on currently.
JF: Right now I'm working on two children's books, a couple of new writing projects, and I'm also working a series of paintings.
As for the most recent book projects, we released a board book called We All Count: A Book of Cree Numbers (Native Northwest) and will release the second in the series. Colours of the Woodlands, later this year. Dolphins SOS, written by Roy and Slavia Miki, was released earlier this year (Tradewind Books). Right now, I'm working on illustrations for two books, the reissue of Tomson Highway's Dragonfly Kites (Fifth House Publishers) and a collection of stories and poems. A new project for Simply Read Books is also in the works.
When we met, you were receiving the inaugural 2014 Aboriginal Literature Award, sponsored by the Periodical Marketers of Canada, and Wild Berries had been chosen as the First Nation Communities READ selection. Tell us what the award means to you and about the tour you went on for the First Nations Communities READ selection.
JF: It was an honour for Wild Berries/Pakwa che menisu to be selected from the short-listed titles. All of the nominated titles are important acknowledgements. The book selections and recommendations are made by First Nation librarians working in and with First Nation communities. It's an ongoing project that encourages and reminds libraries across Canada to purchase, display, read and discuss all of the selected titles.
After the selection announcement and Aboriginal Literature Award presentation, we went on a book tour to First Nation communities in Ontario. We were warmly welcomed into each of the communities. We visited Walpole Island First Nation on Lake St. Clair, Saugeen First Nation on the Bruce Peninsula and Beausoleil First Nation in Georgian Bay. On each visit, we spent a full day together; it was a great way of getting to know the communities. The hosts shared the history of their communities and land, we visited the schools and libraries for readings and workshops, and beautiful food was prepared. The story Wild Berries / Pakwa che menisu was a fun book to share because everyone had a berry story of his or her own to share after the readings and workshops. The stories were beautiful, and lots of funny stories were told--often including encounters with bears.
Participating in the First Nation Communities READ program really gave me a sense of how important author and artist visits to First Nation communities are--for both the book creator and the community.
We also visited the Hamilton Public Library during the art crawl on our last day, another warm and welcoming visit. The library offered extraordinary programming for the event. It was a full day of readings and presentations, I had a lot of fun reading to a group of the littlest ones there, and we enjoyed the company of a First Nation women's drumming group toward the end of the evening.
I deeply appreciate the contributions of everyone who was involved: the children we visited at the schools and libraries; the community members; the teachers, volunteers and librarians, and all the organizers; Patty Lawlor of the Southern Ontario Library Service; the support provided by the Southern Ontario Library Service and the First Nation Communities READ program; Goodminds.com; Simply Read Books and the Periodical Marketers of Canada.
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| Author: | O'Brien, Sandra |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Canadian Children's Book News |
| Article Type: | Interview |
| Geographic Code: | 1CANA |
| Date: | Jan 1, 2015 |
| Words: | 1339 |
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