Some traditional knowledge was passed down to students at SIAST’s Woodland Campus in Prince Albert today.
Renowned Metis author and playwright Maria Campbell addressed over 100 students who want to improve on their writing or who want to become writers.
Campbell originally grew inside the boundaries of what is now Prince Albert National Park.
She says her village had to pack up and leave when development of the park started.
Campbell then began reading stories to elders who gave her licorice as a reward.
That dramatic flair stayed with her and she completed her first work, even though she only had a Grade 7 education at the time.
Campbell says the value of telling stories can’t be overstated.
She says it can be harder to get through to kids today with all the technology that surrounds them, but she thinks they are adapting:
“I think it’s harder — but on the other hand, I think there’s young people coming that are taking that new technology and they’re making it into . . . . so storytelling will evolve in a new and different kind of way, and that’s OK, too. I believe that culture doesn’t stand still. It just keeps changing.”
Campbell leaves on Monday for the University of Ottawa.
She will be there for a year to work on her writing.
The works include a new musical, a book about the impact of Bill C-31 and a book about the roots of violence against Aboriginal women.