Picture book a winner

When Joseph Jean Fauchon and Sheldon Mauvieux began their studies in the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP) at the Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI), producing an award-winning children's book probably wasn't on their list of goals. But, on Nov. 25. when this year's winning books were announced during the Saskatchewan Book Awards gala in Regina, The Métis Alphabet Book, which Fauchon wrote and Mauvieux illustrated, took top spot in the First Peoples Publishing category.

The idea for The Métis Alphabet Book, which explores Métis history and culture from A to Z, grew out of a project Fauchon completed as part of the course requirements for a class in children's literature, explained Karon Shmon, co-ordinator of GDI's publishing department.

His professor was so impressed by what Fauchon produced that he contacted the publishing department and suggested they take a look. Department staff helped Fauchon take his original concept and fine-tune it, and brought Mauvieux on board it provide illustrations.

Some of the illustrations in the book are based on actual photos of Métis people.

"On the E is for Elders page, he's working from a photo of two Elders," Shmon said. "On the F is for Fiddle page, that's an image drawn from a picture of John Arcand. He's nicknamed the Master of the Métis Fiddle. And John is quite pleased and touched to have that."

The Métis Alphabet Book has been well received, both from within the Métis community, and from the public in general.

"The Métis community like it for its ability to, I guess, transmit and represent Métis history and culture," Karon Shmon said.

For the non-Métis community, the book provides a resource for teaching about the Métis, something which is in short supply.

The department will soon be publishing a set of study prints to complement The Métis Alphabet Book. The cards will feature the images from the book on the front, with more detailed information about each topic on the back.

"So the teacher can actually say, 'Well, not only does G stand for gauntlet, but this is what a gauntlet meant to the Métis and this is how they chose to have floral beadwork on them and this is why they were made out of hide,' those kinds of things." Shmon said.

The success of The Métis Alphabet Book will likely give a boost to SUNTEP as well, showing young people the doorways that can be opened up to them by completing the post-secondary program, a four-year bachelor of education program offered by GDI in partership with Saskatchewan Learning, the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan.

"One of the objectives of the program is not only to ensure that there are more Métis teachers everywhere so that its affirming to Métis students to see teachers like themselves and to have educators who can understand the perspective that they're coming from in terms of their learning needs and their cultural backgrounds, etc.

"We feel that that's important for all children. But also to promote the program as a place where Métis people can, I guess, find a niche in the education world and be proud of their culture or history," Shmon said.

"We feel good that not only are these two young men role models, but Métis children and other people can say, 'Oh, I can not only become a teacher, but an author and an illustrator.'"

Copies of The Métis Alphabet Book can be purchased through the GDI publishing department's sales office in Saskatoon, online on the GDI Web site (www.gdins.org ) or through local booksellers who are carrying the book.