NAWADINIWE: A NATIVE AMERICAN BOARDING SCHOOL STORY
HOW MY GRANDFATHER WAS TAKEN TO BOARDING SCHOOL
Nawadiniwe is an interactive storybook that tells the story of one Ojibway child’s experience of being taken to a government run missionary boarding school in the 1930’s. Based on family interviews and her grandfather’s writings, the original story was developed as a handmade ledger book by multimedia artist Eve LaFountain.
The title comes from the Ojibwe word for taking captives and relates her grandfather’s true story of being taken to boarding school. The artwork is inspired by traditional ledger book art, a style formed by Plains people in the mid 19th century during a time of cultural upheaval. The book was then transformed into an interactive experience in just three days by a team of designers and technologists brought together at Tribeca Hacks NDN Country.
