Comparing and contrasting Film and Book versions of Shi-

Shi-Etko
Created by Anja Dressler, 2018 Werklund Graduate
Resources used and Picture book: Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell
possible concerns Short film: Shi-Shi-etko directed by Kate Kroll

Author/creator Picture Book

and/or literature - “Shi-shi-etko, was published in September 2005. It was
background a finalist for the 2006 Ruth Schwartz Children's Book
Award, the 2006 TD Canadian Children's Literature
Award and the 2006 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award
and was the co-winner of the 2006 Anskohk Aboriginal
Children's Book of the Year Award.”(“Nicola I. Campbell
(Authors) - Strong Nations,” n.d.)
- Nicola I. Campbell is Interior Salish and Metis
Short Film
- All actors in the short film are Coast Salish
- Director Kate Kroll is not Indigenous
- Film is rated G in Canada
- Film dialogue is in the Coast Salish language
Halkomelem, but there are English subtitles

UPE course - EDUC 420: these resources and lesson fit into the
connections (not theme of the Nature of Learning. In these resources,
exhaustive) learning from relatives, elders, and the land is
exemplified. Learning outside of the classroom has
always been an important part of Indigenous cultures
and the example of this young girl in the story and her
learning outside with her family would fit well into this
course and theme
- EDUC 427: A strong connection can be made between
these two resources and 3) Design learning
environments in STEM from the course. These
resources highlight learning from and about the land,
something that can easily be included in STEM. In
particular, a project for the showcase that includes
these resources as inspiration would effectively serve
diverse learners and fulfil TQS competencies
- EDUC 445: This resource and discussion of land-based
learning as well as learning from elders fits well into
“examin[ing] approaches for adapting classroom
instruction and environments to meet the needs of
diverse learners”. Focusing on cultural and familial
strengths plays well into acknowledging individual
 learning and the skills that learners bring with them into
the classroom
- EDUC 525: the history of residential schooling in
Canada is an important historical period for teachers to
be aware of not only as something that occurred in the
past, but also because of its lasting impacts on
Indigenous peoples, how education is structured in
Canada, and the inter-generational trauma that students
suffer. However, this book and film feature another
important aspect of that period: the cultural strengths
and resilience of Indigenous communities. Law and
education in Canada needs to take into account
traditional Indigenous ways of knowing and systems.

K-12 connection - Targeted age range: grades 7-9

- Related curricular outcomes (social studies and
language arts): comparing and contrasting literature,
European settlement of Canada and its impacts,
perspective and mood in literature, ideas of surviving
and agency

Materials - Chart paper

- Picture book: Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell
- Short film: Shi-Shi-etko directed by Kate Kroll

Rationale Purpose: This lesson idea is aimed primarily at classrooms

with few to no Indigenous students in order to raise awareness
and sensitivity surrounding how Indigenus peoples are
portrayed. The class should first have at least general
knowledge about residential schools and their impacts. Use
these resources to highlight strength and resilience of
Indigenous peoples, in the author’s words: “These two books
are my efforts to illustrate these two children finding strength
and resilience within themselves along with finding as many
adventures as they could find” (“Nicola I. Campbell (Authors) -
Strong Nations,” n.d.). In addition, by comparing both versions,
picture book and short film, students can reflect upon the
portrayal of Indigenous peoples and how mood and
perspective is portrayed in literature.
- Resilience is often nurtured through drawing on the
strength of communities and traditional teachings, both
of which are comprised of human, other-than-human
(e.g. plants, animals) and more-than-human (e.g.
ancestors in the spirit world) relations rooted in land and
honoured through protocol, ethical practice, and
ceremony. (Madden, 2019)
 - Shi-shi-etko, written by Nicola I. Campbell and
illustrated by Kim Lafave, chronicles the four days a
young girl spends learning with her family in her
community before leaving to attend residential school.
Shi-shi-etko bathes in the creek with her mother,
canoes on the lake with her father, collects medicines
on the land with her grandmother, and privately offers
tobacco to Grandfather Tree to keep her memories and
family safe until she returns home in the spring. The
reader infers that she will draw strength from the ways
of her people and the land she is from during her time at
residential school. A video adaptation was also directed
by Kate Kroll and produced by Marilyn Thomas in
collaboration with the author. (Madden, 2019)

Lesson 1. Tell students they will be presented with two different

idea/activities versions of the same story.
2. In any order, present the picture book and the film. After
each, discuss what they noticed and any questions they
had about the resource.
Read students the picture book and after discuss their
impressions. Questions to discuss may include:
- How do the pictures interact with the words?
- How can you imagine different characters in the
story feel?
- How is Shi-Shi-Etko’s relationship with her family
depicted in the book?
Show the students the short film and after discuss their
impressions. Questions to discuss may include:
- How does light and darkness interact with the
story?
- What effect(s) are created using sound and
music?
- How can you imagine different characters in the
story feel?
- How is Shi-Shi-Etko’s relationship with her family
depicted in the film?
3. After students have engaged with both resources, have
chart paper with venn diagrams, comparison tables, or
just room to jot ideas for both resources spread around
the room where small groups of students rotate to add
ideas onto (for example, a group of 5 students may
spend ten minutes at each prompt before rotating to the
next).
Prompts/questions may include
- How does the mood/pictures/lighting of the film
 or illustrations affect the audience’s feelings
toward Shi-Shi-Etko and her family?
- Which version of the story depicts a happier
community? Why?
- What role does Shi-Shi-Etko’s family play in each
piece, how does it change and why might it be
different between the video and the book?
- What role does the land play in each piece?
- If you were Shi-Shi-Etko and had to pick either
the picture book or film to represent your story,
which would you choose and why?
4. After all groups have had the chance to rotate fully
around the room and add to each prompt, have ten or
so minutes where students may peruse all of the chart
papers on their own to see how other groups have
answered.
5. As a whole class discussion to finish, focus on a
question such as: How and to what extent does
literature about Indigenous peoples in Canada affect the
opinions of outsiders and how might these portrayals
affect the Indigenous peoples themselves?
6. Possible extension/homework activity: Students can
write a journal entry for the following question: If
someone were creating a book or movie about your life,
what would you like it to be like and why?

Sources:

Shi-Shi-Etko. (2009, May 01). Retrieved June 17, 2020, from

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1367110/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_6

Nicola I. Campbell (Authors) - Strong Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved June 17, 2020,
from https://www.strongnations.com/gs/show.php?gs=3&gsd=992

Madden, B. (2019, March 27). Indigenous Counter-Stories in Truth and

Reconciliation Education. Retrieved from https://www.edcan.ca/articles/trc-
education/#:%7E:text=As%20educators%2C%20the%20inclusion%20of,the
%20singularizing%20image%20of%20victimhood.