Fatty Legs
by Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, & Liz Amini-Holmes
Description:
Publisher's description (Annick Press, 2010):
The moving memoir of an Inuit girl who emerges from a residential school with her spirit intact.
Eight-year-old Margaret Pokiak has set her sights on learning to read, even though it means leaving her village in the high Arctic. Faced with unceasing pressure, her father finally agrees to let her make the five-day journey to attend school, but he warns Margaret of the terrors of residential schools.
At school Margaret soon encounters the Raven, a black-cloaked nun with a hooked nose and bony fingers that resemble claws. She immediately dislikes the strong-willed young Margaret. Intending to humiliate her, the heartless Raven gives gray stockings to all the girls -- all except Margaret, who gets red ones. In an instant Margaret is the laughingstock of the entire school.
In the face of such cruelty, Margaret refuses to be intimidated and bravely gets rid of the stockings. Although a sympathetic nun stands up for Margaret, in the end it is this brave young girl who gives the Raven a lesson in the power of human dignity.
Complemented by archival photos from Margaret Pokiak-Fenton's collection and striking artwork from Liz Amini-Holmes, this inspiring first-person account of a plucky girl's determination to confront her tormentor will linger with young readers.]
Download the free Educator Guide from Annick Press.
In this video, author Christy-Jordan Fenton reads Chapter One of Fatty Legs.
Creator Biographies (Annick Press):
Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton was an Inuvialuk elder and artisan who spent her early years on Banks Island in the high Arctic.
Christy Jordan-Fenton lives in Fort St. John, British Columbia. Margaret Pokiak-Fenton is her children’s grandmother. Jordan-Fenton practices traditional ceremonies with the Kainai Blackfoot.
Resource format: Novel
Age recommendation: Grades 5 - 7
Keywords: Residential school, language, Residential schools, trauma, cultural revitalizaton, Inuvialuit, Inuvialuk, Orange Shirt Day, fur trade, colonialism, settlers, colonization, identity, identity loss, family, Arctic, A Stranger At Home, tradition, historical consideration, travelling, Tuktoyaktuk, survivors, Residential School survivor, assimilate, assimilation, Hudson's Bay Company, schooner, reconciliation
Year of publication: 2010
Publisher information: Annick Press
Teaching and Learning Ideas
Our team collaborated with new teachers, alumni of the Werklund School of Education’s Bachelor of Education program, to create teaching and learning plans for texts in this website. With audiences ranging from Pre-Kindergarten to Post-Secondary, lesson plans across this resource address a wide range of school subject areas, inclusive approaches, and Indigenous education topics, such as the revitalization of Indigenous languages. As this website was designed with Undergraduate Programs in Education instructors, as well as teachers in mind, connections to UPE courses have been flagged on each lesson plan. These lessons are intended as a starting place for educators, to help you envision ways in which you might bring Indigenous literatures, as well as ways of knowing, being, and doing, into your teaching contexts. Please adapt, use, and share these lessons in ways that are generative for your teaching practice. We offer our sincere thanks to the dozens of new teachers who gifted us with these creative ideas!