Bronte Big Eagle (10-years-old), son of Juanita McArthur Big Eagle and Jason Big Eagle, from Ocean Man First Nation won the opportunity to become a printed author last year through the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre (SICC) Book Writing Competition. His book, “The Legend of the T-Rex’s Short Arms,” was written and illustrated by Bronte.
“I like dinosaurs and I thought about making a book about dinosaurs,” Bronte stated at a ‘Meet the Author’ night in Stoughton hosted by the Stoughton library and school. “I’m thinking about another one, ‘How the Duck Lip Dinosaur got Duck Lips.’”
His favourite part of creating the book? “Drawing the pictures.”
“He’s full of ideas,” Juanita smiled. “He’s always wanted to do a series.”
“He loves reading, you can’t get him out of a book,” Juanita said; while Bronte added that reading is one of his favourite things to do.
The competition was open to youth from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and this is the first book translated to Nakota to win.
“We found out he won in July last year and he read his story at a Language Conference, Nov. 23 to 25, in Saskatoon in front of 400 people,” Juanita explained. She credited 4-H Public Speaking with helping him accomplish that task, while thanking the school for being flexible with Bronte’s language days.
The win is an exciting one for the young man who is not only a creative author, but is contributing to the awakening of the Nakota language.
“The language is going through an awakening,” Juanita explained. “We’re seeing it in our youth. When he took the book to a Nakota speaker on White Bear, she said that he had made her heart happy. There’s a connection between elder and youth that had been missing.”
Bronte is enjoying learning Nakota, which originally came through Victor Sammy, who the book is dedicated to, who would speak the language to the young man. Now he, along with many who are bringing the language back, relies on Tuffy Helgeson (South Dakota), Mike Turcott (Fort Peck), and Peter Bigstone (Ocean Man).
“It’s an honour to be his mom,” Juanita added. “He’s such an old little guy. All I had wished for in my childhood I see it in him and I’m very thankful for that.”
