Unipkausivut – Building Language and Literacy Skills Through Oral History

This would be a creative project for an arts and literacy program, a women’s literacy program or a traditional sewing and literacy program, such as Reclaiming our Sinew.¹
The group could decide to create wall hangings based on stories. You could listen to recordings of Elders telling stories, write up the stories and create wall hangings to illustrate them. The wall hangings could be made from fabric or skins.
The group could create quilts, with each square showing a scene from a story. Each square should be a good size (12” X 12” or larger). Each group member could illustrate an event in the story by creating appliqués for a square of the quilt. Put all the squares together in order to illustrate the story.

Decide on the story or stories you want to illustrate with your textile art. People might work in pairs or small groups on one story. Or the whole literacy group could work together on one story and divide up the writing and sewing tasks.
Make a materials list; brainstorm all the materials you will need – different colours of fabric or skins and thread. Make sure you can get all the supplies before you start the project. If you need to fundraise to purchase materials, plan for that well in advance.
Listen to the story at least once just for enjoyment and to get the idea of what the story is about.
You will probably need to listen to the story several times and make notes, so you will be prepared to do the writing.
Groups or individuals can write up the story in their own words – not using the exact words of the storyteller. If you are working in one big group, use a group writing process in which everyone is involved.
Notice unfamiliar vocabulary when listening to the stories – traditional words, no longer used by younger people and technical vocabulary. Make a vocabulary list with meanings. Try to use this vocabulary in your own stories.

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