Sara Florence Davidson Robert Davidson Illustrated by Janine Gibbons

LEA!NING "o #A!VE A!GILLITe

SARA FLORENCE DAVIDSON ROBERT DAVIDSON ILLUSTRATED BY JANINE GIBBONS

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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien.

HighWater Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of Manitoba through the Department of Sport, Culture and Heritage and the Manitoba Book Publishing Tax Credit, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF), for our publishing activities.

HighWater Press is an imprint of Portage & Main Press. Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens Design by Jennifer Lum Cover Art by Janine Gibbons Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Learning to carve argillite / by Sara Florence Davidson and Robert Davidson ; illustrated by Janine Gibbons. Names: Davidson, Sara Florence, #$%&- author. | Davidson, Robert, #$'(- author. | Gibbons, Janine, illustrator. Description: Series statement: Sk’ad’a ; 2 Identifiers: Canadiana (print) !"!""'##")* Canadiana (ebook) !"!""'###'' | +,-. $%)#//&%$$)'$ (hardcover) | +,-. $%)#//&%$$)/( (012-) | +,-. $%)#//&%$$)(& (134) Subjects: 56,7: Intergenerational relations—Juvenile literature. | 56,7: Experiential learning—Juvenile literature. 56,7: Indigenous peoples—British Columbia—Haida Gwaii—Social life and customs—Juvenile literature. 56,7: Carving (Decorative arts)—British Columbia—Haida Gwaii—Juvenile literature. Classification: 566 78%!( .D&) !"!# | 336 j&"(.'/!—dc!&!&

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www.highwaterpress.com Winnipeg, Manitoba Treaty 1 Territory and homeland of the Métis Nation

NOT FOR SALE | FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY LEA!NING "o #A!VE A!GILLITe SARA FLORENCE DAVIDSON | ROBERT DAVIDSON | JANINE GIBBONS

Advance Reading Copy | Not for Sale | For Promotional Use Only

This is an uncorrected galley. Please check all attributions and quotations against the finished copy of the book. We urge this for the sake of editorial accuracy as well as for your legal protection and ours. My dad always reminds me to work hard and help our family. Whether it is chopping !rewood to sell, hauling water for our home, or !shing for the family, I must always work hard and help our family. But on days like today, when I am not in school and all of the chores are done, I have time to carve argillite, a rock that is used for Haida art, just like my dad does.

ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE I do not have a workbench. Instead, I take the small argillite pole that I have been working on and go outside to sit on the steps at the front of my house. "e sun shines down, warming my hair, and I can smell the salt in the wind as it comes up o# the water from the inlet. Today, I am working on the eagle at the top of my pole.

ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE I learn from my dad and my tsinii, but sometimes I get to visit other argillite carvers from the village to watch them work.

ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE After scratching a line down the middle of the piece of argillite, it does not take long to rough out the design, carefully scratching ovals and U-shapes from the pole in the photograph onto the surface of the argillite. I do my best to copy what I see, but sometimes the shapes are di$cult to capture in the stone.

ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE $bout this story

"is story is based on real people and events. Sara and Robert talked about Robert’s childhood memories of his father. "en, Sara used the information to create an imagined day of her father learning to carve argillite with his father.

Robert Davidson guud sans glans 1946–

"e boy in this story is Robert Davidson. He is a master artist of the Ts’aahl (Eagle) Clan in Massett, who is committed to revitalizing Haida art, songs, and dances. At the age of %&, he began to learn to carve from his father and grandfather. In %'(', he raised the !rst totem pole in nearly %)) years in Massett on Haida Gwaii. In %'*), he co-founded the Rainbow Creek Dancers with his brother, artist Reg Davidson. He has received many awards for his artistic accomplishments, including a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia, the Governor General’s Award for Visual Arts, and six honourary degrees from universities in Canada and the United States. Between %'+* and ,)%*, he hosted and co-hosted %( potlatches and feasts. Robert is married to Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson. He has two children, Sara and Ben, and !ve grandchildren, Gavin, Dustin, Jayde, Juno, and Jasper.

ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE Map !"

ADVANCE READING COPY | NOT FOR SALE

!"#$ %& '!($! artist Robert Davidson’s own childhood experiences, this beautiful story highlights learning through observation, as well as the role of Elders in sharing knowledge and mentorship. B Learning to carve is a lifelong journey. With the help of his father and grandfather, a boy on Haida Gwaii practices to become a skillful carver. As he carefully works on a new piece, he remembers a trip to Slatechuck Mountain to gather the argillite, as well as his father’s words about the importance of looking back to help us )nd our way. Written by the creators of Potlatch as Pedagogy, this book brings the Haida Sk’ad’a Principles to life through the art of Janine Gibbons.

Sara Florence Davidson, (she/her) is a Haida/Settler Assistant Professor in Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Previously, she was an educator working with adolescents in the *-+, system in British Columbia and Yukon Territory. Sara is the co-author of Potlatch as Pedagogy: Learning through Ceremony, which she wrote with her father, and Magical Beings of Haida Gwaii, which she wrote with her stepmother, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson.

Robert Davidson is one of the most respected and important contemporary artists in Canada. A Northwest Coast native of Haida descent, he is a master carver of totem poles and masks and works in a variety of other media as a printmaker, painter, and jeweller. A leading )gure in the renaissance of Haida art and culture, Robert is best known as an impeccable craftsman whose creative and personal interpretation of traditional Haida form is unparalleled. https://www.robertdavidson.ca/

Janine Gibbons, a Haida Raven of the Double-Fin Killer Whale Clan, Brown Bear House, is a multi-disciplinary artist and award-winning illustrator. Janine’s works are inspired by the waters and lands of the Paci)c Northwest, and their myriad colours, energies, and languages. Janine graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle and Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Janine has illustrated three books in the Sealaska Heritage’s Baby Raven Reads series, including Raven Makes the Aleutians, an AILA Honor Book.

!"#$%&%' () *#$+" #$'&!!&(" Book 2, Sk’ad’a Stories Series Advance Reading Copy | Uncorrected Proof | Not for Sale