So two Canadians go on vacation to Prague... It sounds like the beginning of a joke. And it is. There's a reason why Thomas King won a Stephen Leacock medal for humour. I laughed out loud.
2021
won the 2021 Stephen Leacock medal for humour
The two Canadians are husband Thomas Blackbird Mavrias and wife Mimi Bull Shield.
Six years ago, Mimi's mother Bernie told the couple a gripping tale set in the 1900s about Uncle Leroy.
Protesting poor treatment landed Uncle Leroy in hot water. To escape the water, he was forced to leave the reservation. So he joined a wild west show--and took the Crow bundle with him.
On page 63, Mimi explains that medicine bundles "'contain things like feathers or stones or bones... Each of the items could have some spiritual significance, or it might have been attached to a specific story or a song... But not all bundles are sacred. Some are secular.'"
Bernie explains that the bundle that Uncle Leroy took was a secular bundle.
Uncle Leroy toured Europe and sent a postcard back to the reserve from every county he visited. So Mimi decides that she and Bird should...
"'What we should do is continue to follow the postcards around Europe and look for Uncle Leroy and the bundle. At the same time, we should create a new bundle... We could call it the Travel bundle.'" (p. 64)
So we're in Prague, Bird tells us, and, lucky us, we get to go with them. Like the best trips, the account of Bird and Mimi's tour of Prague is interspersed with many interesting detours. 'So we're in Prague' is a transition phrase that is used effectively to bring us back to the major storyline.
I've been a fan of Thomas King's ever since Dead Dog Cafe. So I knew I was going to enjoy this book. I just didn't know how much.
20 Canadian books for kids and teens to read for National Indigenous History Month
For Father's Day...
He’s Cool
Before my giant leap into university, the team—Mom, Dad, and I—found a course offered through Red River Community College that promised to prepare me for higher learning.
And Dad asked, “Would you mind if I took that course too?”
Navigating my way from my small community in rural Manitoba to the big city of Winnipeg by myself was an overwhelming prospect but… But going to college with my dad…?
I was more afraid of getting lost, so I allowed my dad to take me.
Dad was the oldest person in the course. He was even older than the instructor. Our instructor was knowledgeable, and confident and presented the information in an inviting way. One of the things she taught us was how to skim-read. She told us to, “Read the first and last paragraph and the first sentence of all the paragraphs in the body of the article.”
For a slow reader like me, learning how to skim-read was invaluable.
On the last day of the three-day course, we were expected to become a teacher. The instructor presented us with a list of topics that we’d studied. We were to choose from the list and present a review. Most of us scrambled to nab the best topic, but not Dad. Dad took what no one else wanted—adverbs and adjectives. Boring!
On the day of his presentation, he carried a small brown suitcase with him to the front of the class. He set the case on the teacher’s desk, unzipped it, and pulled out what looked like two bombs. “You have to be very careful with these.” He turned the bombs so that we could read the labels—adverbs and adjectives.
I still remember what the coolest, most handsome guy in the class whispered to me, “He’s your dad?”
I shrugged and nodded.
“He’s so cool. What happened to you?”
