Mi'kmaw educator teams up with Wowkwis the puppet to take kids on language journey
CBC
As a child of the 1980s, Trevor Gould grew up in awe of Jim Henson's muppets, dreaming of a day when he could join them.
The artist and educator from Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation, N.S., has gotten pretty close to fulfilling that dream now that he's teamed up with a Nova Scotia theatre company to teach kids the Mi'kmaw language using puppets.
Gould co-stars next to Wowkwis — the Mi'kmaw word for fox — in Mermaid Theatre's Animalingo, a video series for school-aged kids that the organization hopes to bring to classrooms across the province.
Over 10 episodes, the duo journey to the river, forest and other locations as Gould shares Mi'kmaw culture, traditions and language.
"The ending is getting Wowkwis to a mawiomi, which is very much me, who I am," said Gould, a dancer, singer and powwow emcee.
"People in the Mi'kmaw community that already have an idea of who I am from working in the community, this will be a lot more, I guess, familiar to them and it'll be easier to connect."
Mermaid Theatre uses a mix of live puppetry performed by puppet master Jim Morrow and 2D animation to bring the lessons to life.
"The beautiful part of these stories is we have the human world, and then we go into this animated world where you see Trevor as an avatar and Wowkis in 2D animation," said executive director Danny Everson.
Animalingo has 30 episodes in total, covering three languages: Mi'kmaw, Gaelic and Acadian French.
Anika Lirette guides the Acadian lessons and the Gaelic series is led by Cape Breton musician Mary Jane Lamond.
Lamond stars next to Caoirigh the puppet and hopes the make-believe world they've created together is as captivating for children as it was for her.
"I was completely engaged with this puppet," Lamond said. "I mean, sometimes I was talking to the puppet and I forgot it was Jim actually working it."
The episodes are designed for learners as young at Kindergarten and have a Sesame Street-vibe. Each episode introduce kids to a new animal, number and colour, and the lessons build on one another.
By the end of each series, Everson said students will have learned about 150 to 200 new words, and there are plans to expand the series to include more languages, such as Arabic, Mandarin and Inuktitut.
An Auditor General of Canada report has found that B.C. saw drastically fewer international students than was forecast ever since wide-ranging federal immigration cuts began in 2024.
Six years after e-learning became a mandatory requirement to get an Ontario high school diploma, students don't appear to be taking online school to diversify their course selection as the province had intended, according to a CBC News analysis of provincial enrolment data.
Sarnia City Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday morning to respond to social media comments made by Coun. Bill Dennis, who criticized city spending on a new mural by Indigenous artist Kennady Osborne as “virtue signalling by woke politicians” — then made a series of comments in response to a reply from Aamjiwnaang Chief Janelle Nahmabin that some have characterized as unprofessional and aggressive.
While many Albertans continue to feel the pinch at the pump, Premier Danielle Smith says the government is not considering any fuel tax breaks, as it does not believe it will make much of a difference.
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about gruesome deaths and sexual abuse.
Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) says they will take part in the federal government's buyback program for assault-style rifles this year, but a local member of parliament says she "can't get behind this decision."
The use of American contracts and services is down by nearly half on Prince Edward Island following tariffs and shaky trade relations under the Donald Trump administration.
The first set of deadlines included in the energy and climate deal struck between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith are not expected to be met, showing early challenges with the agreement that includes pursuing a new export pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast.
Mayoral-hopeful Coun. Brad Bradford is calling for a host of safety measures across Toronto’s subway system, including a specific focus on platform edge doors, with a motion before city council this week.
When the one-star reviews first began to appear on his restaurant's Google page, owner Damon Ataei swung into action, trying to contact each reviewer.
The Mounties called it the "Native extremism program." Today, it sounds like a spy novel.
A judge is expected to rule in June on a proposed settlement for a class-action lawsuit involving a crash landing of an Air Canada flight in Halifax more than a decade ago.
An inmate who was on the loose after escaping a jail in Shediac has been caught, New Brunswick RCMP said in a press release late Monday afternoon.