Shin-chi's Canoe

Shin-chi sets off for his first year at residential school. His sister, Shi-shi-etko, joins him for her second year there. En route to their destination, she tells him of the things from home he must remember while away and gives him a tiny toy cedar canoe, a gift from their father, which she instructs him to keep hidden. The days are long and lonely at residential school, but then summer arrives, the salmon swim upriver, and the children return home.

Thematic Links: First Nations - Residential Schools - Siblings - Family