Harold Joe, Sr., from Somena on Vancouver Island, made the art on the cover.

He chose the beaver because the beaver is a hard worker that never stops caring for the lodge and the family. When the pups are young, the parents start to teach them. The pups learn to be beavers—a way of living and working. Beavers take good care of their cubs, and are good teachers. The beaver stands for family togetherness.

The beaver uses determination and creativity to build houses and dams. It can do things that we would use math to figure out, such as: How many trees will it take to build the dam? How thick will the walls need to be to stand up to the water pressure? How can we build a roof that doesn’t cave in?

The old people learned how to build houses by looking at beaver lodges. Harold says, “We learn from every animal. We honour every animal.”

The circle in the design stands for the life of the present and a connection to the beyond. Voices heard from the elders are passed along.

The hanging feathers stand for each reservation of the Cowichan Tribes: Somena, Koksilah, Quamichan, Comiaken, Khenipsem, Clem Clem, and Tl’ulpalus.

The colours also have a meaning: red stands for strength, black stands for protection, and green stands for peace.