A community bookshelf in Chilliwack that was refurbished by a group of Agassiz kids turned into a project that will teach the public Halq鈥檈m茅ylem.
A group of Grade 7 students from Seabird Island Community School recently helped restore a Rotary Club of Chilliwack bookshelf at the Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre.
The shelves were too deep and it needed a fresh coat of paint, said teacher and Rotarian Shane Douglas. His fellow Rotarians asked if he could help modify it, and he agreed.
鈥淚 looked at it like there was an opportunity to also do a bit more, and bring in reconciliation.鈥�
One of the goals was to draw more children to the three-tiered, wheeled bookshelf, so he decided to bring his students into the picture and also Soowahlie artist Isadore Charters, who has been an elder in residence at Seabird Island Community School for nearly seven years.
The bookshelf was taken to the school to be modified and painted.
When Charters heard about the project and saw the bookshelf he knew it had to be repainted, but he also felt other designs needed to be added.
鈥淲e decided we鈥檒l put some native stuff on it, native words that mean a lot to us like 鈥榝riend,鈥欌�� Charters said. 鈥溾�楩riend,鈥� to me is you gotta reach out鈥� we鈥檝e gotta be friends to our neighbours. Share one another鈥檚 stories, share one another鈥檚 intelligence and knowledge.鈥�
The Halq鈥檈m茅ylem word 蝉颈测谩:测补 is painted on the bookshelf right above its English translation: friend. There鈥檚 also 茅测别蝉 which means 鈥榝un鈥� and 迟濒鈥櫭�:濒蝉 which is 鈥榣ove.鈥�
Painted footprints and paw prints of bears, birds and deer are seen walking past the students鈥� hand prints.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that we put our animals in there,鈥� Charters said. 鈥淲e leave a mark in our world. We always leave our mark, our tracks.鈥�
Charters has done various other art projects with the kids including cedar basket weaving, pine needle baskets, drawing, colouring, and carving soap.
Douglas said some of his students are nervous to do art, but Charters brings out the best in each child.
鈥淗e finds their potential. He can get the best work out of all the students,鈥� Douglas said.
The kids at school don鈥檛 call him Isadore, or Mr. Charters. They call him Yummo.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my little childhood name.鈥�
Yummo is the name that was taken away from him at the age of six. When he first went to residential school and they asked what his English name was, he didn鈥檛 know. It was his sister who came over and said his English name is Isadore.
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His full Indigenous name is Yenmoceetza, which means to shelter people. For years he has taken young kids under his wing and taught them about art, language, legends and more.
He鈥檒l draw pictures of animals in the classroom and then he鈥檒l tell the kids a story about the animal.
鈥淭hey like legends and that really inspires them,鈥� Charters said. 鈥淓specially if it鈥檚 a really funny story鈥� it really gets them going.鈥�
That inspiration clearly came through with the bookshelf project and he said he very pleased with the end product.
鈥淚 really like the colours, it looks so good together. It鈥檚 like harmony.鈥�
Shop teacher Matt Thomas helped modify the bookshelf, and Dianna Kay and Karla Kay provided the Halq鈥檈m茅ylem translation.
鈥淭he Rotary Club is also very appreciative of this,鈥� Douglas said, adding that members of the club gave artisanal cupcakes and wrote thank-you letters to the kids and others who worked on the bookshelf.
Douglas said this project might be a small act of reconciliation, but it is needed.
鈥淐hilliwack has a lot of good momentum going on, and just like any other place, there鈥檚 a lot more room to do reconciliation,鈥� he said.
Charters agreed and he鈥檚 hoping people who come into the Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre and see the Halq鈥檈m茅ylem words painted on the bookshelf will look up how to pronounce them.
鈥淚t never ends. It鈥檚 just a start and it鈥檒l go a long way,鈥� Charters said.
To learn Halq鈥檈m茅ylem words and hear their pronunciations, go to .
