Review of APRONS AND MOCCASINS by Anne Burchat

 3.5 Stars

Full Disclosure: I’ve known the author since high school so we’ve been friends for over 50 years. I must also add that I’m not an expert on literature for young people.

Lena and Chenoa are two young girls approaching adolescence. Lena has Kashubian heritage, with ancestry traced to northwestern Poland, and Chenoa is an Algonquin, an Indigenous people  traditionally residing in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region of North America. As the two become friends, they discover that, though their backgrounds seem very different, their cultures share many similarities.

It is these similarities that impressed me. Having Kashubian ancestors, I’m familiar with the embroidery and actually own a few pieces, but I had never considered how it is similar with Indigenous beadwork. Lena explains the colours and their meaning as used in traditional Kashubian embroidery, and Chenoa does the same with the colours used for the four directions of the medicine wheel. And there are other comparisons such as sweetgrass and incense.

I like that the girls emerge as distinct personalities. At the beginning, Lena describes Chenoa as being brave enough to try almost everything. And this appraisal is proven correct in Chenoa’s behaviour: fearless, she’s the one who climbs higher and swims faster. Lena is less adventurous. What they share is a love of nature and an interest in their own cultures and that of others.

I think the book would appeal to middle school girls and could be used by teachers or guide leaders. After reading about the stitches used by Lena and Chenoa, girls could have demonstrations in embroidery and beading by people skilled in these types of handwork. Or better yet, allow girls to try both for themselves. The book could be used as an introduction to cultural comparisons. After noting the similarities Lena and Chenoa find between their diverse heritages, students could be asked to look for similarities between their own heritages with those of another person. Other simple exercises could be devised: the two girls discuss the meanings of their names so why not have students explore the meanings and derivations of their names?

And there’s a serious theme that deserves attention. Lena outlines how her ancestors left Prussia in the late 1800s and were granted a plot of land by the Canadian government. On the other hand, Chenoa mentions that the Algonquins have lived on the land for twelve thousand years and though they never signed a treaty, the government claimed their land. Lena has an epiphany: “’We are living on the land of your people. This is not right.’” What a great opening for a meaningful discussion of our history.

I wish the book had more photos of embroidery and beading to help readers visualize and better understand what is being described since not everyone will have familiarity with such handwork. I also did find that sometimes the girls’ dialogue feels unnaturally formal with a lot of exposition. Regardless, this book has much to offer.