A Yellowknife author’s first book has been selected for an international collection highlighting books written in Indigenous and endangered languages.
Cathy Modeste-Short’s Dechı̨tah Náıdı́: Medicine from the Land is part of the inaugural International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Unesco Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages.
The collection includes 169 books in more than 150 languages, with 12 titles selected from the Arctic.
The book, illustrated by Modeste-Short’s husband Tom Short and translated into Dene Kǝdǝ́ by her cousin, shares traditional knowledge about plants, medicines and the land.
Modeste-Shorte says much of that knowledge came from her mother, whom she followed on the land as a child while she gathered plants for traditional medicines.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Her mother encouraged her to share that knowledge with younger generations.
“She said, ‘Take this medicine plant to the school, teach it to the kids’,” she told Cabin Radio. “So that one day one might get interested, and our knowledge will not die.”
Modeste-Short says having the book written in Dene Kǝdǝ́ is particularly meaningful as language use among younger people has declined.
“To write it is good. To have it in a story that reminds us of who we are is inspiring,” she said.
The book was NWT-based Northern Quill Publishing’s first project.
The collection launched at the IBBY World Congress in Ottawa in August and will be exhibited at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October and Bologna Children’s Book Fair next April.
