Cultural protocols book garners positive public response

Sylvia McAdam was surprised but pleased to be using her law degree to write a book for the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre (SICC) on protocol and tradition.

“We shouldn’t be surprised but it’s selling very well – over 1,000 copies have been sold since its release,” said McAdam in an interview with Sage, adding that they’ve run out of the first press run and had to re-order more books.

She said around 60 to 75 per cent of the books are purchased by non-Aboriginal people and institutions.
The book has also been requested by city police, city council, Saskatchewan libraries, and non-Aboriginal individuals and institutions across western Canada all the way to governmental agencies in Ottawa.

Furthermore, the First Nations University of Canada intercultural leadership program has made it required reading. Originally intended to pass on teachings to the youth, SICC quickly realized this was a unique book with big appeal.

“As we were developing the book we began to realize the need was far more,” McAdam said, adding they expanded it to the general public, also targeting non-First Nations people who were uncertain about attending powwows, ceremonies, and events.

McAdam added that it was SICC Director, Dorothy Myo, who recognized the gap in this information.

“But I didn’t think I would be an author so quickly,” she said.

McAdam was hired “fresh out of law school” because of her background in Indigenous research, combined with a very traditional upbringing – both her parents managed to avoid residential school.

Her maternal grandparents refused to turn their children over, while her paternal grandparents went as far north in the traplines as they could take their son – essentially hiding because they had heard what was happening in the schools.

“I never heard of residential schools until I went to university – not a lot of people were as fortunate as I was to grow up with traditional ways,” McAdam noted, adding this helped her know what she could and couldn’t write about in the book, and how to consult appropriately with the many Elders who helped make the book so rich in knowledge and teachings.

“We were directed not to write down spiritual information whatsoever – that information still stays with all of the First Nations,” she said.

While some teachings are too sacred to be written down, general feedback has been overwhelmingly positive – the Elders approve, and many people said, “Finally – a book we can reference.”

McAdam said it was a spiritual journey, as she obtained the guidance and direction from Elders such as Simon and Alma Kytwayhat, Frances and Juliette McAdam, Leona Tootoosis, and Jimmy Myo – and so many others it is scarcely fair to single them out.

“There were Elders that contributed to the information that are gone now - we still utilize their voices in there and this is a tribute to them,” she said, adding she hopes that families find the book a good tribute to their memory.

“These are our living documents,” she said of the Elders. The SICC has an Elders Advisory Council with a mix of all Saskatchewan First Nations – Cree, Dene, Nakota Lakota and Dakota, and Saulteaux.

McAdam is, herself, Cree and Saulteaux and knows her languages.

“This is all old information, but it’s reawakened – it’s getting revitalized,” she said.

McAdam said SICC has been doing on-reserve workshops with the book and are developing a curriculum and module for use in schools and workshops.

They have had requests for a French language version and also want to translate it into all the First Nations Languages. A recent on-reserve workshop using the book’s sections on traditional parenting and tipi teachings was a resounding success.

“One comment was it was wonderful to hear the Elders’ voices again. This is what our sovereignty is,” said McAdam. “We feel good about fulfilling our mandate and mission as a Cultural Centre.”

The book took about four months of research and interviews, using the insights and teachings of the Elders. McAdam also credits the knowledgeable staff at SICC, who made even the artwork and layout beautiful.

“The thing about this is we’re all a treaty people – we are all. When we learn about the European culture that’s fine – but our European relatives also need to learn about our cultural teachings – how are they to walk with us if they have no understanding or no knowledge about these teachings?” she asked.