By Dale Cory
“This is my history. This is your history, too.”
Jacqueline Guest speaks with energy. She speaks from experience.
And, she tells her story with the degree of passion you would like to see from federal politicians when they speak on behalf of Canadians.
Guest, a Métis writer who lives in Bragg Creek, is the author of many books whose main characters come from different ethnic backgrounds — including First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Her characters face issues common to every child, such as bullying, blended families and physical challenges.
Guest was recently in Ponoka, and her presentation to Grade 7 students at Diamond Willow Middle School Oct. 19 focused on the era of the fur trade in Canadian history.
The topic was chosen because it was part of the social studies curriculum.
But Guest didn’t just stand in front of the class for an hour boring teenagers with facts, figures and dates of what took place a few hundred years earlier.
She brought along a multitude of props — in the form of native games, clothing and books.
Once each of the three Grade 7 classes was seated, Guest turned into a storyteller, an educator, even an actor — taking the students back to a time when there were no Sony Play Stations, no laptop computers, and no gloves with battery packs to keep hands toasty on those cold Prairie nights.
“I want them to be excited about history, and by making it very visual and interactive, I’m able to link with their social studies in a fun way,” says Guest. “I’ve always told the kids, if you can laugh and learn, it will stay. If you have to be pounded on to learn something, it tends to go out of your head as fast as you put it in there.”
This message obviously got through to Grade 7 students. They became part of the presentation because of Guest’s way of making you feel body and mind had been teleported back to an era when times were tough — but still livable, and even enjoyable.
All audience members had to do was close their eyes and listen to Guest talk about an era in Canadian history that none of us can really comprehend. One minute you were paddling down the river in your dugout canoe — the next minute you were steering buffalo over the edge of the cliff to get your food, clothing and toys.
“This interests me a lot,” said student Sam McMillan after the presentation. “I didn’t know that much about the Métis — and now I do.”
Guest has a lot of knowledge to draw on for inspiration. Her juvenile novels, all sport-based, include Hat Trick, Free Throw, Triple Threat, Rookie Season, Rink Rivals, A Goal In Sight and Soccer Star.
Among her historical fiction novels are Belle of Batoche, which won an Edmonton Public Schools Best of the Best Award and Secret Signs.
Guest’s young adult teen mystery novels include Lightning Rider, Racing Fear, At Risk, Wild Ride, Dream Racer, and her latest War Games, about a video addicted teen whose father goes off to fight the war in Afghanistan.
“In order to have kids actually sit down and read a book, you have to come with something that is interesting, that’s pertinent to them, and something they can connect to,” insists Guest, who continues touring Alberta schools teaching Canadian history. “In my books —whether its fast motorcycles, bear poaching, or sports, or whether it’s the different ethnicities, such as white Canadian kids, black Canadian kids, First Nations, Métis, or Inuit — they’re all Canadian kids, and it gives them something to tag to, so they can go, ‘This is just like me, I have a hero in this book,’ I think we all need heroes no matter where we come from or the colour of our skin.”
Guest’s historical presentations bring the fur trade, buffalo hunts and life on the Prairies in 1885 alive for her audience. The fun and highly interactive presentation has students dressing up as voyageurs and paddling to the nearest Hudson Bay Fur Trading Post with a canoe full of beaver pelts.
On this day, Kolby Rattray became ‘Pierre the Voyageur’ for a few minutes, and found himself paddling down a river in search of food.
“I thought it was a lot of fun. I liked wearing all that stuff. I’m not sure if I’m a voyageur — but I might be. I learned what the canoe is made out of, and what the colours on the sash mean. It’s all about reading. I found it interesting how they made all these toys out of buffalo, how they made dolls and boats, and how they used the Métis wrap to do everything.”
During her presentation, Guest explained what the colours and designs in the sash mean in both European and First Nations’ mythology. The importance of the buffalo was incorporated in the talk, and Guest showed artifacts such as buffalo teeth, bone fishing hooks and horn sewing needles, to make her point on the hardships faced by the people who roamed this land a century and a half ago.
The repercussions from Guest’s presentation are likely to be felt by these Grade 7 students for many years. The goal is to have students spending more time in the library.
“Bringing in authors brings in more reality for the students. I have all of Jackie’s books, and I believe Canadian literature is very important — both historical and current,” says Maureen Bell, library technician at Diamond Willow. “I promote as much of it as I can, and in our school, I also try to promote as much First Nations material as I can. Academic achievement is very much correlated with reading. If you don’t read — you’re not going to have high academic achievement.”
“This is Canadian history,” summarized Guest. “It rocks.”
And that’s a language any Grade 7 student can understand.