The Animal People Choose a Leader /10

A Short Story by Richard Wagamese

Written by Richard Wagamese
Illustrated by Kristy Cameron
Richard Wagames was Ojibway from the Wabaseemoong
First Nation in Northwestern Ontario. Self-educated and self-
taught, he was the author of nine titles in memoir and novel
form. In addition to a new book of poetry. He died on March
10th, 2017
Richard Wagamese has won “this story came from a desire to bring the traditional oral
journalism and publishing form to a contemporary setting and audience. I wanted to
awards and is an acclaimed
public speaker. He lived
write a story that reflected the teaching tales of my
outside Kamloops with his people. I wanted to show that our traditions are alive and
wife and dog. well, while entertaining people at the same time.”

Vocabulary
1. anthropomorphism: giving human characteristics to something that is not human, such
as an animal or inanimate object. The author’s use of anthropomorphism in this story is
characteristic of traditional First Nations, Inuit, and Metis storytelling.
2. third person narrator: a person who is not a character in the story and who tells the
story from that perspective.
Aboriginal Ways of Knowing and Being:

Explain with evidence from the story:

Pre-Reading:
1. Reflect on the title of the story. Can you make predictions about the content and
characters?
During:
2. Create a rough, point form timeline of the race as we read. How does this help you
understand the message? This will be developed into a project so take good notes.
Questions for Comprehension:
3. How did rereading the story with the aid of a timeline, how does this visual help you
understand the story?
4. How does the third person narrator point of view affect the way the story is told? How
would this be different if was told from the perspective of Wapoose?
5. Wapoose says: “It is in the journey that one comes to understand the territory. It is in the
journey that one becomes wise…”
What are other insightful statements made by Wapoose in this story? Choose one that
resonates with you and explain why. Use the direct quote from the story.
6. Compare your view of leadership with to the one presented in the story.