The Scoop from the Snake-pit!

The Day of the Dead isn't a day full of death & sadness, but one of honor, memories, and celebration of life. I honor my Ancestors always, but they receive special attention on November 1st & 2nd (All Saints/Souls Day). This issue is dedicated to the memories of our loved ones as we gather at our ofrendas or table for gratitude. It's most important now more than ever, as a lot of our families lost loved ones due to the pandemic. Last but not least, November is National Indigenous Nations month. Learn a better way to acknowledge Indigenous Nations. They are not "Indians" or "Native Americans." Know their tribal name or stick with the safety of Indigenous People. As always, multiple lessons lie buried within this newsletter! Enjoy! :)

This month, the library's special book feature is, At the Mountain's Base by Traci Sorrell with illustrations by Weshoyot Alvitre. There's a wonderful collection of lesson plans based on this book (look for slide 4). The above picture is a poster written in Cherokee. Below this section are some snippets from the lesson mentioned a couple of sentences ago.

What you may not know is that I served on the American Library Association's Caldecott Book Award Jury for this specific book. I fought hard for the inclusion of this book, however, it was one round shy of making our honors list. Here was my 30-seconds summary of the book:

At the Mountain’s Base illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre

It’s a generational story of heritage, home and hope for a loved one serving one nation, while leading within another nation (Cherokee) and weaving the threads of an equitable nation into the fabric of life every day life for Cherokee women. The illustrations convey warmth, strength, empowerment and leadership in a matriarchal family. A woven pattern and the smoke-filled prayers escaping from a log cabin tucked in the woods, mimics the flows of life. It’s equal parts vapor, valor and victory.

I still have my personal copy and I'd be happy to come to your class to read aloud this phenomenal story either to support this aforementioned lesson or as a brain-break for your students! Just send me an email.

First, the Cherokee alphabet is technically not an alphabet at all, but a syllabary. That means each Cherokee symbol represents a syllable, not just a consonant or a vowel. So using the English alphabet, the Cherokee word ama ("water") is written with three letters: a, m, and a. Using the Cherokee syllabary, the same word is written with only two characters, and (pronounced "a" and "ma.")

For this reason, Cherokee symbols are usually arranged in chart form, with one column for each Cherokee vowel and one row for each Cherokee consonant. So if you're looking for the Cherokee symbol for "li," you go down the chart to the "L" row (fourth from the top) and across to the "I" row (third from the left.) Except for "s" (), every Cherokee syllable begins with a consonant and ends with a vowel (some have a "silent i," but you don't need to worry about that yet,) so it's very easy to get the hang of.

Note that for Cherokee, as for English, symbols are written left to right. Here is a picture of the Cherokee syllabary chart:

The library is open daily from 8:00am-3:30pm. I take "C" lunch from 12:25-12:55, closing briefly for nourishment. Reserving the library can be made here. Please send students with a legitimate pass on their agenda from their classroom instructor (name, date/time of student & staff) and reason for their visit.

Email: eboni.darnell@pfisd.net
Website: awakenlibrarian.com
Location: 12900 Dessau Road, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: 512-594-2600
Twitter: @awakenlibrarian