Métis

The Strong Readers Métis Series launched in December 2014.

Single sets include 1 copy each of the 8 titles in the Métis Series.

The Métis Series includes a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books that provide cultural reflections of the Métis.

The series includes titles ranging from levels 3 to 18:

LV. 3 - My Métis Sash
LV. 6 - Métis People Travel!
LV. 8 - I Can Bead
LV. 10 - Giving Thanks
LV. 12 - A Métis New Year
LV. 14 - Two Métis Vests
LV. 16 - A Red River Cart
LV. 18 - Ways To Carry A Métis Baby

Educator Information
This resource is also available in French HERE!

Additional Information
ISBN: 9781771745918

Level 12 - Back cover book introduction: New Year’s Eve is on December 31. It is the last day of the year. At midnight the old year ends and a new one begins. In this book you will learn about some of the ways that Métis families have fun on New Year’s Eve.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Strong Readers Métis Series. The Strong Readers Métis Series includes a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books that provide cultural reflections of the Métis.

This is a Level 12 book in the series.

This resource is also available in French: La veille du jour de l’An métis.

Additional Information
16 Pages | Dimensions: 6in x 9in | ISBN: 9781771740678

Level 16 - Back cover book introduction: The Red River cart is very strong. It is built by the Métis people to carry heavy loads of furs and other things. This book will show you how a Red River cart is made.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Strong Readers Métis Series. The Strong Readers Métis Series includes a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books that provide cultural reflections of the Métis.

This is a Level 16 book in the series.

This resource is also available in French: Une charrette de la rivière Rouge.

Additional Information
16 Pages | Book Dimensions: 6in x 9in | ISBN: 9781771740692

Level 10 - Back cover book introduction: We often give thanks for the things in our lives that we are grateful for. In this book you will read about many of the things that Métis Elders give thanks for.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Strong Readers Métis Series. The Strong Readers Métis Series includes a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books that provide cultural reflections of the Métis.

This is a Level 10 book in the series.

This resource is also available in French HERE!

Additional Information
16 Pages | Dimensions: 6in x 9in | ISBN: 9781771740708

Level 8 - Back cover book introduction: Beads are small. They come in many colours. This book is about learning to make things with beads.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Strong Readers Métis Series. The Strong Readers Métis Series includes a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books that provide cultural reflections of the Métis.

This is a Level 8 book in the series.

This resource is also available in French: Je peux perler.

Additional Information
16 Pages | Book Dimensions: 6in x 9in | ISBN: 9781771740715

Level 6 - Back cover book introduction: Métis people have different ways of traveling over the land and water in the summer, fall, winter and spring. This book will show you some of the ways that Métis people can travel.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Strong Readers Métis Series. The Strong Readers Métis Series includes a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books that provide cultural reflections of the Métis.

This is a Level 6 book in the series.

This resource is also available in French: Les Métis voyagent! 

Additional Information
16 Pages | Dimensions: 6in x 9in | ISBN: 9781771740722

Level 3 - Back cover book introduction: This book is about a Métis sash. This sash is made from 5 coloured threads. The threads are woven together. Weaving the threads together makes a sash very strong.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Strong Readers Métis Series. The Strong Readers Métis Series includes a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books that provide cultural reflections of the Métis.

This is a Level 3 book in the series.

This resource is also available in French: Ma ceinture fléchée métisse.

Additional Information
16 Pages | Dimensions: 6in x 9in | ISBN: 9781771740739

Level 14 - Back cover book introduction: A Métis vest is a piece of clothing. It is like a short jacket but it has no sleeves. It has buttons down the front. Métis women decorate the vests with colourful designs and fringes. There are pictures of two Métis vests in this book. Which one do you think would be the hardest to make? Why?

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Strong Readers Métis Series. The Strong Readers Métis Series includes a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books that provide cultural reflections of the Métis.

This is a Level 14 book in the series.

This resource is also available in French: Deux gilets métis.

Additional Information
16 Pages | Dimensions: 6in x 9in | ISBN: 9781771740685

Level 18 - Back cover book introduction: Métis mothers have many ways to carry their babies. This book will show you some of the ways that Métis mothers carried their babies long ago.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Strong Readers Métis Series. The Strong Readers Métis Series includes a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books that provide cultural reflections of the Métis.

This is a Level 18 book in the series.

This resource is also available in French: Les façons de porter un bébé métis.

Additional Information
16 Pages | Dimensions: 6in x 9in | ISBN: 9781771740746 

For Tyrese, history class is the lowest point of his school day. That is, until his friend Levi reveals a secret – a secret that brings history alive, in the form of one Gabriel Dumont. Through Dumont, a great Métis leader of the Northwest Resistance, the boys experience a bison hunt, a skirmish with the Blackfoot, and an encounter with the great Louis Riel, and, ultimately, a great battle of the Northwest Resistance at Batoche, Saskatchewan.

Educator & Series Information
The Rebel is one book in the Tales from Big Spirit series. Tales from Big Spirit is a unique graphic novel series that delves into the stories of great Indigenous heroes from Canadian history—some already well known and others who deserve to be. Designed to correspond to grades 4–6 social studies curriculums across Canada, these full colour graphic novels could be used in literature circles, novel studies, and book clubs to facilitate discussion of social studies topics. These books will help students make historical connections while promoting important literacy skills.

Grade: for grades 4–6

A Teacher's Guide is also available for the Tales from the Big Spirit Series: Tales from the Big Spirit Series Teacher's Guide. The teacher's guide is designed to help classroom teachers use the graphic novel series, Tales From Big Spirit, by David Alexander Robertson. The guide provides detailed lessons that meet a wide range of language arts and social studies goals, integrate Indigenous perspectives, and make curricular content more accessible to diverse learners.

This resources is also available in French: D'hier à aujourd'hui, Le rebelle : Gabriel Dumont

Additional Information
30 pages | 6.50" x 10.00"

Dreamcatcher and the Seven Deceivers, the sequel to the Seven Sacred Teachings, warns of voices we can expect to hear in our dream time – voices that do not represent the Sacred Teachings.

These are the voices of Seven Deceivers who are spoken of by name. The allure of their whisperings is carefully spelled out in order that all might come to know what to listen for. Dreamcatcher and the Seven Deceivers is a carefully woven telling of how and why Creator sent Trickster to Turtle Island with a gift that would help us see the light and resist temptation. At a time before distant religions and churches came with their teachings, their commandments and their seven cardinal sins, we knew. We knew the way of the Good Red Road. We knew the right way to live; not through commandments but through Sacred Teachings – Teachings that were given to us long before their arrival. And we knew we would be tested by Seven Deceivers – what they called seven cardinal sins. We knew because we had been forewarned. And when these distant churches arrived with their teachings, their relics and their symbols, we had our own. One was the Dreamcatcher.

Rooted in humility and honesty, the creators have tried to respect the cultures and traditions of all peoples. It is our hope that this telling will unite and thus heal divisions. Prophecies tell that this is the time for One Heart, One Mind and One Drum. We, readers and authors alike, are the ones we have been waiting for. There is nobody else who can revitalize our culture and values except ourselves.

It is our hope that this telling might move readers toward greater courage and wisdom and ultimately toward achieving and understanding what is true in life’s journey.

The Seven Sacred Teachings are a link that ties all Native, Inuit and Métis communities together.

Educator Information
Available in French HERE!

Additional Information
35 pages

Leah Marie Dorion's The Diamond Willow Walking Stick: A Traditional Métis Story About Generosity focuses on a Métis Elder's remembrances of traditional teachings about generosity that were taught to him by his grandparents during his childhood. These lifelong lessons imparted on him "how to live in a good Métis way," and taught him how to live with respect within the circle of life. In this charming children's book, the third in an ongoing series on traditional Métis culture, author and illustrator Leah Marie Dorion takes the reader on another enchanting journey while once again honouring the special bond between Métis children and their grandparents. With breathtaking artwork and an elegant Michif translation by Norman Fleury, this heartfelt, coming of age story will resonate with both young and old. This book also includes a chart on the uses of the willow tree and an accompanying narration CD in English and Michif-Cree. This retelling of a traditional Métis story is most suitable for younger children.

Educator Information
This book also includes a chart on the uses of the willow tree and an accompanying narration CD in English and Michif-Cree.

This retelling of a traditional Metis story is most suitable for younger children.

Additional Information
56 Pages | 28 cm x 21.5 cm

Call of the Fiddle completes the trilogy of a young boy as he embraces his Métis heritage and carries on his family’s traditions. Wilfred Burton and Anne Patton capture Batoche’s history and significance with their words, while Sherry Farrell Racette brings the land and Métis culture to life with her vibrant illustrations. Join Nolin one last time as he hears the rollicking rhythm of the “Red River Jig,” learns of tearful memories, and experiences the excitement of jigging at Batoche!

Includes a CD with English and Michif Narrations of the Story and Fiddle Music!

Educator & Series Information
The trilogy is composed of these three titles: Fiddle Dancer, Dancing In My Bones, and Call of the Fiddle. 

Michif translations by Normal Fleury.

Additional Information
49 Pages | 27.9 cm x 21.5 cm

Relatives With Roots: A Story About Métis Women’s Connection to the Land is a heartfelt story about a Métis grandmother who takes her granddaughter out into the bush to teach her how to pick traditional medicines. As the granddaughter learns the traditional beliefs and stories about how the Métis people use the plants for food and medicine, she feels happy to be a Métis child with access to such wonderful cultural knowledge. This charming and vibrant book introduces young readers to key concepts in the traditional Métis worldview while focusing on the special relationship between a young Métis girl and her grandmother. Relatives With Roots is the second in a series of children’s books relating to traditional Métis values by Leah Marie Dorion. The first book, The Giving Tree: A Retelling of a Traditional Métis Story, was nominated in 2010 for a Willow Award in the Shining Willow category.

Additional Information
61 Pages | 28 cm x 21.5 cm

Leigh Aberdeen is one of the top players on her Alberta hockey team, the Falcons. But as a Métis and the only girl on the team she's different--and not everyone is happy about that.

To top it off, she doesn't think her mother wants her to play hockey, so Leigh hasn't told her about the Falcons. Soon she's getting threatening messages on the phone, the Falcons'captain tries to get her kicked off the team, and her mother wants Leigh to go to a dance recital on the same night as the finals. When the pressure becomes too intense, Leigh has to face some hard decisions.

Hat Trick is a suspenseful, action-packed story about a young woman who learns the price of living a double life--the hard way.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 9 to 13.

Fry Reading Level - 4.2

Additional Information
128 pages | 5.00" x 7.75" | Paperback