The Spirit of the Sea
by Rebecca Hainnu & Hwei Lim
Description:
Publisher's description (Inhabit Books, 2014):
This beautifully illustrated picture books tells the story of the spirit of the sea, referred to as Nuliajuq, Sedna, Takannaaluk, and many other Inuktitut names. Once a young woman who refused to marry, the lies and deceit of a treacherous bird and her own father's cowardice lead Nuliajuq to a life of solitude at the bottom of the ocean as the powerful, at times vengeful, spirit of the sea. The Spirit of the Sea provides young readers with an authentic retelling of one of the most important, powerful legends in the canon of Inuit traditional stories.
Author biography (Strong Nations, 2023):
Rebecca Hainnu lives in Clyde River with her daughters. She is also the author of The Spirit of the Sea. Her book A Walk on the Tundra, co-authoured with Anna Ziegler, was a finalist for the 2013 Canadian Children’s Literature Round Table Information Book Award, and was among the 2012 “Best Books for Kids and Teens,” as selected by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Resource format: Picturebook
Age recommendation: Kindergarten - Grade 3
Keywords: spirit of the sea, Inuktitut, traditional legend, traditional story, culture, story, animals, land, language, pronunciation guide, seasons, honesty, suspense, Inuit, Inuit story, oral tradition, oral story telling, Inuktitut, personification, dual languages
Year of publication: 2014
Publisher information: Inhabit Media
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!