Kicking off the Mi’gmaw Language Home Kit Engagement Sessions

In early October, the Mi’gmaw Language and Culture Revitalization Team, in partnership with Metallic Publishing kicked off their very first Mi’gmaw Home Kit Engagement Session. In this session, a reading was done of the children’s book “U’j’ji’jg”, titled “Blackflies” in English, originally written by Robert Munsch. This book was published in Mi’gma’gi by Metallic Publishing, translated by Mary Ann Metallic, and edited by Victoria Metallic and Janice Vicaire. Metallic Publishing worked with Scholastic Canada Ltd. to make the Mi’gmaw version of this book possible, which included an agreement that Metallic Publishing had to duplicate the layout of the English version. The artwork in the book was done by Jay Odjick from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Algonquin community in Québec. The book took months to translate and edit, and number of drafts were done before the final project was completed.

Listuguj’s Victoria Metallic, creator of Metallic Publishing feels as though sharing Mi’gmaw stories and providing resources is important to those who are wanting to learn the language. This was one of the reasons she created Metallic Publishing. She said, “Creating a publishing company was very important, because when I was younger, I didn’t have any books in Mi’gmaw to read or browse through. I didn’t have any videos to listen to. The only time I heard Mi’gmaw was through my parents at home.”

Since “U’j’ji’jg” has been published, it has been distributed to schools in Listuguj, Gesgapegiag, and New Richmond. Various group readings and discussions have been done on the book as well. Metallic Publishing has several videos that can be used as a useful tool when it comes to learning the Mi’gmaw language. Metallic said, “We’ve made some videos on YouTube, where you can hear audio of different words, sounds of the letters, and different verbs too.” These videos can be found on Metallic Publishing’s page on Facebook, or on YouTube.

If you would like a copy of “U’j’ji’jg” please reach out to Mi’gmaw Language and Culture Coordinator, Mary-Beth Wysote for more information. She can be reached at mary-beth.wysote@listuguj.ca or at 418-788-2136.

By Ann Marie Jacques