This drawing by Michela Carriere of a muskrat with flames behind it is the primary image for Muskrats and Fire, a book published by a Cumberland House teacher and her students on the relationship between Indigenous and Western sciences (McDowell Foundation).

By Aaron Schulze

Muskrats and Fire

Teacher and students from Cumberland House get children’s book published

Jun 4, 2019 | 6:01 PM

Nearly three years of research from a Cumberland House teacher has paid off with a published educational children’s book.

Muskrats and Fire, written by Renee Carriere and illustrated by her daughter Michela and her students at Charlebois Community School, takes a look at why the muskrats in the Cumberland House area are gone and how Indigenous and Western sciences can work together.

Carriere has been a teacher and researcher in Cumberland House for over three years. Her work started when students asked her questions regarding the muskrats.

After receiving funding from the McDowell Foundation – a non-profit organization started by the Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation (STF) that funds teacher-led research in the province – Carriere partnered with the University of Saskatchewan. She took her students to the field, and worked with knowledge keepers to explore answers to their questions.

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What they discovered was that a traditional Indigenous practice of burning the lakes was no longer happening. As the lakes became overgrown, the muskrats were being choked out, so Carriere received permission from the provincial government to do some controlled burning with knowledge keepers in the community and muskrats began to reappear.

Ellen Whiteman, manager for the McDowell Foundation, said Carriere thought developing a children’s book would be the best way to share the new information, as the foundation expects the researcher to provide background, so teachers around the province can properly teach it.

“We all have probably read a couple of APA Journals in our lifetime, and we know that they’re not hugely available and something that can be picked up and utilized immediately,” Whiteman said. “Renee’s idea of making it a children’s book made it accessible immediately both to teachers and students. The book is written at about a Grade 5 level, so students can pick this up, read it, and get information and ideas from it.”

In a media release Carriere said that science can be difficult to grasp, so it’s “important to create user-friendly ways of sharing place-based research that’s authentic and easy to understand.”

Muskrats and Fire is available on the McDowell Foundation’s website and the STF is making physical copies at cost to make it available as a resource to educators in the province.

Whiteman said it’s the first book the McDowell Foundation has ever funded. They normally publish final reports and develop videos and webpages.

She said the foundation has funded other projects in the past such as mental health, student anxiety, and combining Indigenous and Western mathematics. However, the foundation wants to make sure all parts of Saskatchewan are covered and funded for research, especially the north.

“This whole research project has been important to us,” Whiteman said. “A couple of years ago, the McDowell Foundation board passed a motion committing to ensure our research was addressing Truth and Reconciliation in the province and the call to action. This book is an example of how Reconciliation can happen through research and how we can make resources available that support teaches as they continue to explore Reconciliation.”

Whiteman mentioned that Carriere joined the McDowell Foundation board last fall and hopes her voice as a researcher and northern resident helps broaden their vision going forward.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow