schchechmala children's series Books

In order from Neekna and Chemai to Zoe and the Fawn

chapter • 52 Pages

Series

Book #1

Neekna and Chemai

Written by Jeannette Armstrong & illustrated by Barbara Marchand

4 - 7

Reading age

Page count

Oct 1, 1991

Publication date

Paperback

$14.95

$13.98

Summary

Neekna and Chemai are two little girls growing up in the Okanagan Valley in the time before European contact. Through these two friends, we learn about the seasonal life patterns of the Okanagan First Peoples. The girls spend time with Great-Grandmother, who tells them about important ceremonies, and they gather plants with Neekna’s grandmother. Grandmother explains how bitterroot came to be an important food source, and why the people give a special ceremony of thanks at its harvest. Grandmother also tells the story of how a woman was changed to a rock to watch over the Okanagan Valley. Neekna understands how important it is that she has received the knowledge passed down for generations, from great-grandmother to grandmother to mother.

schchechmala children's series Series

Published from 1991 - 2006

2 books

chapter • 52 Pages

Series

Paperback

$14.95$13.98

picture • 32 Pages

Series

Hardcover

$19.95$18.95

Year	Title	Author	Pages
1991	Neekna and Chemai	Jeannette Armstrong	52
2006	Zoe and the Fawn	Catherine Jameson	32

The Creatives Behind the Books

Author

Jeannette Armstrong

Jeannette Armstrong is an award-winning novelist, activist and poet born on the Okanagan Reserve. Known for her literary work, Armstrong has always sought to change deeply biased misconceptions about Indigenous people. Her novel Slash is considered by many people to be the first novel by a First Nations woman. In 2013 she was appointed a Canada Research Chair in Okanagan Indigenous Knowledge and Philosophy to research, document, categorize and analyze Okanagan syilx oral literature in Nsyilxcn.

Author

Catherine Jameson

Catherine Jameson is Secw&amp;amp;eacutepemc-syilx (Okanagan). She lives in Penticton, British Columbia. This is her first book.

Illustrator

Barbara Marchand

Barbara Marchand is an author, editor and an illustrator of children’s books and young adult books. Her credits include Kou-Skelowh/We are the People: A Trilogy of Okanagan Legends (new bilingual edition). She lives in the Okanagan region of British Columbia.