Metis Traditions Featured Prominently In New Books

Friday, October 03, 2008 at 15:07

The Gabriel Dumont Institute has just published a new book aimed at promoting and preserving Metis culture.

Stories of Our People is a graphic novel — a kind of big comic book — and contains stories about everything from tricksters to werewolves.

Editor Darren Prefontaine says the book is an exciting blend of the old and the new — traditional Metis stories told in the new graphic novel format.

The book features illustrations by Metis artists.

Work on the project began about two years ago.

Meanwhile, Prefontaine also says people are looking for alternative medicines.

That’s why he’s confident another new book published by GDI will be very popular.

Medicines To Help Us features the healing traditions of Metis going back hundreds of years.

Prefontaine says several northerners contributed to the work.

The book is translated into four Aboriginal languages.

Also, the reverse side of the study guides can be put together to make a big painting of traditional Metis healing plants.