Every winter I look forward to telling the Navajo story of Ma’ii (Coyote) and Horned Toad. There is a set of stories that are told only during the winter, so one’s appetite is whetted for a whole year! I tell a version of the story that my friend, Erik Bitsui, told me. I always try to channel his portrayal of the gruff, taciturn Horned Toad. There is a wonderful picture book version by the renowned Diné artist, Shonto Begay: Ma’ii and Cousin Horned Toad: A Traditional Navajo Story.
I had planned to tell this story the previous week, but we got off schedule in January when our library was closed due to snow. So my lunar new year story time was delayed a week. After the snow melted, we had much warmer weather, so I’m glad I didn’t wait any longer!
I love bringing the story to life with my lovely horned toad puppet, inherited from my parents’ folk art collection.
After the story, the kids told me they were worried about how the story would turn out. But it had a very satisfactory ending.
Then they had fun making Coyote masks and learning how to say “goodbye” in Navajo. (By the way, I’ve been having fun playing with the free “Navajo Toddler” app on my iPhone. Check it out!)
Our final Winter Extravaganza program deserves a post all to itself.
Tony Gondola, a Museum of Flight educator, led an incredible program designed for fourth to eighth graders. I was glad to see that a respectable number of girls had signed up for this program.
He started with an introduction and overview on robots and robotics, and got the kids to think about the differences between machines and robots. They had to think about the uses of robotics in different industries, and why they were more useful in some fields than in others.
Then he divided the group into teams of three or four kids and passed out small plastic boxes of parts. He gave the kids only three pieces of information: 1. their robotic rovers should be able to move forward, backward, to the left, and to the right; 2. he identified one type of motor, which could go fast; and 3. he identified another type of motor, which was slow but could lift a lot of weight. Then he turned them loose to explore, brainstorm, experiment, problem solve, and work cooperatively.
He walked around and offered occasional comments and suggestions as needed, but mostly in the form of questions. He also told them that it was OK to get ideas from other teams.
After about 45 minutes, he called the teams to gather around a ring he had taped off on the floor. He had dumped a pile of spare parts in the ring, and the object was to remove as many pieces as possible in 10 minutes. At this point their rovers looked quite individual. It was surprising how different they all looked, given the fact that they had started with the same set of parts.
Then they had 15 minutes to make modifications on their designs. When they came back for the final round of competition, their rovers looked very much alike. Quite a few had figured out that the elegant pincers on their robotic arm might not be the most efficient tool for removing parts from the ring, and they had fashioned large scoops to push or pull the pieces out of the ring with their faster motor. The winning team managed to remove 22 pieces from the ring!
I had been concerned that some teams might be dominated by one kid, but that really didn’t happen. For the most part, they shared the work and even took turns at controlling their rover even during the intense competition. The parents were pretty good at letting the kids work on their own, although I did notice some parents offering suggestions as the competition ratcheted up!
Winter Extravaganza is a series of exciting programs at the library for school kids during their winter break.
This year I led two out of the three. The first one was easy. I taught two sessions on making origami star boxes and star-shaped books. Since I’ve taught this class before, it felt like a walk in the park for me.
The second one was another story! That was the one I had to come up with on my first day of work, when I learned that the previously planned program had fallen through.
I made the mistake of thinking aloud that it was too bad I didn’t have my musical partner to help produce The Nutcracker puppet show that had been such a success for us in Albuquerque last year.
My new boss, a dancer, loved the idea! Before I knew it, I had not only agreed to produce a Nutcracker puppet show, but also to create Nutcracker puppet designs for the kids to make!
This time I had help from my colleague Mira, who was perfect to play the part of Godmama Drosselmayer, and my boss, Jill, was equally perfect as the Sugarplum Fairy.
I had looked at Stuart’s magical expanding Christmas tree from last year’s production as we were packing the truck and thought, “Nah, we won’t be needing that THIS year!” So he heroically constructed a new one for our Stanwood production. You can see it in the background behind Mira, clowning as the evil Mouse King.
This year I added the Spanish Dance, since I found my childhood marionnettes and untangled them as we were packing.
Since I had also left behind my Kingdom of Sweets backdrop, I was really happy to have the beautiful shadow puppet theater that Stuart built for me last summer. I just removed the screen and hung it with fancy draping.
For the Tea Dance, the dancing tea bags were back, and the St. Nicholas doll and Bear puppet performed the Russian Dance.
My Unicorn puppet once again danced to the music for the Arabian Dance as Godmama Drosselmayer’s special gift to the children (in my old chidhood Victoria theater).
It was perfect to have two puppet theaters as part of our set, because that gave the kids more room for their newly constructed puppets to perform!
The kids could choose from three projects: a stick puppet Ballerina, a paper bag puppet Nutcracker, or a Mouse King mask.
My coworkers brought lots of beautiful ribbon and trim and doilies and bits of fabric and buttons, and gold and silver paper and gorgeous embellishments of all kinds for the Fairy Ballerina puppets.
Since we used slim dowels for their rods, the ballerinas could pirouette beautifully!
For the Mouse King masks, we started with the Mouse mask we designed last year and added a crown.
Voila! Behold the Mouse King!
The Nutcracker paper bag puppets were the most complex of the three projects, because there were so many different elements to cut out. The end product was so worth the extra work, though. The puppets’ sword arms were able to whip to and fro for quite convincing duels.
My arrival at my new job coincided with a storytime hiatus, so I was suffering a bit from storytime withdrawal!
Imagine how glad I was to receive an invitation to visit the Cedarhome Elementary School, where the third grade was learning about storytelling and puppetry! I decided that the perfect story to tell them was the African folk tale, “How Anansi Got His Stories.”
I had a pair of black gloves, so I transformed one of them into Anansi. I also had to make a very large Snake!
The kids were enthusiastic and engaged and full of great questions. And nearly all of them had library cards!
They think the library is AWESOME!
And so do I.
The third graders of Cedarhome Elementary School are pretty awesome themselves.
Here is the beautiful Spider puppet thank-you card they gave me!
Like the salmon, we have come full circle. We live on Camano Island!
I have an exciting new job as the children’s librarian at the Stanwood Library. People in Stanwood and on Camano Island are welcoming and neighborly. It feels like a community where we can put down deep roots.
We miss our family and friends in the Southwest. We’re glad to be closer to our family and friends in the Northwest. We’re counting on much visiting back and forth.
We are still unpacking and getting settled. There is so much to do.
And we do have to stop occasionally to take deep cold breaths of tangy sea air, to pinch ourselves and look around wonderingly. Is it true? Can we really be here?
Bliss…….
This monumental cedar sculpture (pictured above) was made by Fidalgo Island artist Tracy Powell to honor the Samish people and their traditions. It tells the story of The Woman Who Married the Sea.
One side shows a human woman; the other side depicts her transformation into a mermaid whose skin is encrusted with chitons and whose hair has undergone a sea change into flowing strands of kelp. The pole stands on the isthmus dividing Sharpe Cove from Rosario Beach on Fidalgo Island in Washington state.
I have known of its existence for a long time, but never had the chance to track it down until the other day.
Thank you, Stuart, for 21 years of adventure, invention, and romance.
At last! The chapter I authored three years ago for the book, Tribal Libraries, Archives, and Museums: Preserving Our Language, Memory, and Lifeways, edited by Loriene Roy, is now in print!
From the book description:
Hundreds of tribal libraries, archives, and other information centers offer the services patrons would expect from any library: circulation of materials, collection of singular items (such as oral histories), and public services (such as summer reading programs). What is unique in these settings is the commitment to tribal protocols and expressions of tribal lifeways—from their footprints on the land to their architecture and interior design, institutional names, signage, and special services, such as native language promotion.
My chapter, “Empowering Indigenous Students in the Learning Library,” describes beginning steps in creating a culturally relevant information literacy program at Diné College.
Diné College is the Navajo tribal college, and the first tribal college to be established. In 2008 we celebrated its fortieth anniversary.
During my four years there, the Diné College Library made a giant leap across the Digital Divide and into the 21st century—thanks to its visionary leaders, David Hurley (College Librarian) and David Stevick (Shiprock Librarian). They created my job (Instruction/Distance Services Librarian) in order to bridge the daunting distances between the College’s teaching centers in northern Arizona. I drove a circuit of nearly 500 miles (including Tsaile, Window Rock, Ganado, Chinle, Kayenta, and Tuba City) to teach students, faculty, and staff at the distant centers how to use the library online, how to request books to be sent for them to check out at the centers, and how to be digitally literate citizens of the world. At the time, no other tribal college library had a comparable position, so I was breaking new ground.
When I arrived, my boss (who was already overextended with overseeing the public, technical, information technology, and building maintenance operations for three libraries located in two states) told me that he could offer me little more than a college vehicle and a map. The rest was up to me.
I hope that some of my struggles, lessons learned, insights, and successes will encourage and empower other tribal college librarians charged with teaching information literacy. It was an unforgettable honor to take part in educating a generation of Diné College’s 21st century warriors. A number of my students appear in this video from the American Indian College Fund:
Back in August, I also traveled to Spokane to attend the Pacific Northwest Library Association conference. I went to a number of excellent sessions, including my two favorites, Rachel McDonald’s Digital Storytelling for Children and Teens and The Adolescent Brain, Behavior, and Beyond, by Jennifer Fleck and Jennifer Wooten.
Unplanned highlights of the trip were discovering Spokane’s wonderful independent bookseller, Auntie’s Bookstore, and exploring an amazing exhibit at the Museum of Northwest Art and Culture, “Leonardo da Vinci: Man—Inventor—Genius.”
The exhibit included full-sized and scale models of many of Leonardo’s inventions (many hands-on) , as well as computer simulations and films. There was also a very funny section on the Mona Lisa in pop culture. The section on Leonardo’s flying machines included the best short film I have ever seen: Leonardo, by Jim Capobianco, which was so enchanting that it brought tears to my eyes.
But best of all were the teen interpreters from the Welty Teen Docent program (made possible by Dr. Elizabeth Welty, one of the area’s first female physicians and a longtime philanthropist and MAC supporter). After a competitive selection process, 28 local students aged 14-18 were given an extensive hands-on introduction to Leonardo da Vinci. Stationed at rustic carts in four different areas of the exhibit, the students gave engaging talks on demand about a particular aspect of Leonardo’s work. I discovered by asking questions that they were excited about Leonardo’s work and expansively knowledgeable about every aspect of the exhibit, and happy to offer up many additional fascinating stories.
It was inspiring to witness the success of this venture leveraging the energy, brainpower, creativity, and sheer talent of teens for the benefit of the community.
Last spring I was at our library’s neighboring elementary school for their family summer reading program kickoff. Jan Delgado from Albuquerque Public Schools was giving a fantastic story time demo, and, while part of my brain was admiring her inventive and very musical approach to early literacy, the other part of my brain kept thinking how much she reminded me of someone I played with in our high school orchestra long ago. To my astonishment, we discovered afterwards that we did indeed go to high school and play in orchestra together in Missouri! Her mother even remembers volunteering with my mother at our elementary school. What a wonderful person to reconnect with!
Jan is now part of the Albuquerque school district’s ARTS Center, which offers arts resources, training, and support for the entire school district. She told me that the ARTS Center also serves other local organizations supporting arts, education, and literacy, including the public libraries. So I was able to borrow authentic African instruments for the kids’ puppet show, “The Musicians of Bolgatanga,” which was a real thrill for the performers.
On August 27, I attended a half-day workshop on teaching with Orff instruments. Developed by German composer Carl Orff and his colleague Gunild Keetman in the 1920s, it’s a natural and playful approach to teaching music. Its gentle, child-centered activities treat music as a language that every child can learn without formal instruction.
Through imitation, exploration, improvisation, and composition, students learn how to solo and how to play in an ensemble without feeling the anxiety associated with being evaluated or judged. They don’t realize how much they are learning while they are playing and exploring.
The workshop was taught by Carla Haynes, an elementary school music teacher in Albuquerque, and she really knocked our socks off. I took away a lot of ideas that I want to try out in story times.
My life has been a whirlwind, but that is another story. I’m just now getting around to posting the video I made about the One Planet, Many Puppets workshop that I taught for the summer reading program at the Tony Hillerman Library.
A core group of kids stayed on after the puppet-making workshops to come up with a puppet show for the workshop’s grand finale. In just two additional workshop sessions, they brainstormed story ideas, agreed upon a narrative, and worked out how to stage it. Then, during the final session, they rehearsed and performed “The Musicians of Bolgatanga” — their unique version of “The Bremen Town Musicians” by the brothers Grimm.
Here is a video retelling of the story and their performance of it, with glimpses of the puppet-making sessions as well as the dramaturgical process:
At the fourth workshop of our One Planet, Many Puppets series, the focus was on giant puppets and masks.
We looked at examples of giant puppets, and then explored transforming ourselves into puppets through masks.
First, I showed off my own giant Orca puppet.
Then we looked at clips of giant puppets.
I showed examples from In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre, including the May Day ceremony and dancing skeletons from the May Day parade. We also saw a clip from the 2010 New York Village Halloween Parade.
But the kids were especially enthralled by the horse puppets from the play, War Horse (which was adapted from the children’s book, War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo).
Then they had fun making their own masks and inhabiting the characters they had dreamed up.
Every winter I look forward to telling the Navajo story of Ma’ii (Coyote) and Horned Toad. There is a set of stories that are told only during the winter, so one’s appetite is whetted for a whole year! I tell a version of the story that my friend, Erik Bitsui, told me. I always try to channel his portrayal of the gruff, taciturn Horned Toad. There is a wonderful picture book version by the renowned Diné artist, Shonto Begay: Ma’ii and Cousin Horned Toad: A Traditional Navajo Story.
I love bringing the story to life with my lovely horned toad puppet, inherited from my parents’ folk art collection.
