Nimosôm Anima-Nimihšomihš Ta-Minciwenciman = Grandfather’s Reminder

An important value of children’s literature is its efficacy in imparting sociocultural knowledge to readers and viewers. Grandfather’s Reminder is a tri-lingual, (Plains Cree, Saulteaux and English) postcolonial Canadian picturebook belonging to the genre of contemporary realism. Using impactful language accompanied by captivating, texturally rich images that center Indigenous—Cree, Saulteaux and Métis—ways of knowing, and ways of being: relationality, mindfulness, responsibilities toward nature, and its life sustaining gifts. The narrative features a Saulteaux grandfather who, drawing on a past lived experience in response to questioning from his granddaughter, shares vital cultural teachings, such as offering of ceremonial tobacco prior to taking something from the land and contributing to the cycle of life by planting seeds. This occurs in the midst of a traditional sociocultural, socio-emotional, community practice—picking chokecherries on the Canadian plains.

A narrative thread of loving relationality between the grandfather and his granddaughters stitches the story-scenes together and continues until the pivotal episode on p. 20 and 21 where the grandfather explains his “reminder” when questioned about a scar on his forearm. This triggers his recollections of a critical, life-changing, incident in his life. The creators use a porthole as a literary device to facilitate travel back in time to learn about grandfather’s “reminder”—thereby linking the present to the past and underscoring continuity of cultural beliefs and practices.

Recounting the story of his “reminder”, grandfather observed that “the biggest and juiciest berries were at the top of the bush” and that his “cousins, who were taller …, were able to reach them with no trouble—and [he] wanted to reach then too.” Motivated, he “grabbed the nearest branch and pulled it down.” “And then it happened!” He “heard a snapping sound. The branch broke off and [he] fell with it!” Hitting his arm on a rock, he yelled.

His cry of pain, attracted the attention of the grandmother. She came running with a question. “What happened, my grandchild?” The young boy revealed that he “fell and hurt [his] elbow.” His grandmother looked at him and the “broken branch.” She questioned, and he confessed that he “wanted to reach the berries at the top” because they “are the biggest and the juiciest…And…”

His grandmother intervened urgently, revealing her sagacity saying, “‘But there’s lots of berries that you could reach’” and pointed her “lips towards the smaller bushes.” The illustration of this scenario shows the boy in braids, facing his grandmother, holding his bloodied arm and standing in front of the broken branch that lay between them. The reader senses a physical, ontological and epistemological distance between the grandson and the grandmother. As more knowledgeable and loving elder, she narrows this distance by offering teachings.
The grandmother explained that “chokecherry bushes give so much to us, and to all the animals, insects and birds that live here. [And] that [n]ow this branch will no longer be able to grow berries for us to enjoy.” With this, she teaches that “human-nature relations are intertwined in cultural practices”, such as revering nature’s “gifts” to humans as well as animals and insects and hence the need to take only what is truly necessary for ourselves and, therefore, the need for mindfulness about destroying branches and trees (Pugh, McGinty & Bang, 2019, p. 426). Thus, the grandmother broadened her grandson’s knowledge/understanding about the natural world and his responsibilities toward it.
Pages 34 and 35 mark the termination of the time travel to the past that was triggered by a question the granddaughter posed to her grandfather about the scar on his arm—his reminder…. That question now answered, the creators of the book return us to the contemporary setting of the story where the granddaughter asks, “‘Why did you and great-grandmother scatter the berries, Grandfather?” The grandfather’s answers by saying, “Ah! That is a good question.” “Look around you, my grandchild. All of these bushes come from the berries that I and your great grandmother scattered long ago.” (p. 36). Pleasantly, surprised, the child “looked around at all the chokecherry bushes that surrounded [them].”

It is at this moment the grandfather pointed to the scar on his elbow and explained, “This is my reminder that I must be happy with who I am and to always care for and respect Mother Earth who provides us with what we need. So, my grandchild, this scar is my reminder, and these bushes can be yours.” (p. 36) The child-narrator then “looked up at [her] grandfather and smiled”, adding, “We continued to pick chokecherries. And I was happy.” She is now inducted in ecologically sensitive, life-sustaining deeply rooted, cultural and spiritual practices.

In the foregoing scene, the grandfather’s remembrances—his storying of the incident that created a contextual catalyst for deep cultural and spiritual learning for his granddaughter—is used to pass on such knowledge from one generation to the next. This ensures their continuities and futurities—a respect for land, nature, and animals and to take from nature in balanced ways.

Rich in ceremony and delightful visual examples of Indigenous material culture through its colourful floral art, verdant scenery, expansive blue skies, and lush chokecherry bushes bearing plump berries, Grandfather’s Reminder is an applause-worthy offering. Cautioning against wanton extraction, it reminds us through effective, and affective storytelling of the need for mindfulness and equilibrium in our relationships with nature. Brava/o to the Bear sisters and their collaborators!

Reference

Pugh, P., McGinty, M., & Bang, M. (2019). Relational epistemologies in land-based learning
environments: reasoning about ecological systems and spatial indexing in motion.
Cultural Studies of Science Education (2019) 14, 425–448.