By Brian Owens, Reporter
Walkers on the riverside trail in St. Stephen have a new activity to partake in while strolling along the St. Croix River — a “StoryWalk” put up by the St. Croix Public Library.
Starting by the wharf and spreading along the path upriver to the border bridge, the laminated pages of a children’s book are posted every few metres, allowing families to combine the story with their exercise.
The book is Tihtiyas and Jean by Donald Soctomah, a member of the Passamaquoddy (Peskotomuhkati) in Maine. It tells the story of a young Passamaquoddy girl who meets and befriends a French boy who is part of the first expedition to spend the winter on St. Croix Island. The book is presented in English, French and Wolastoqey.
Library assistant Margie Morraty said the library staff and board wanted to feature an Indigenous story and were excited to find one set on the very river that gives the library its name.
“It’s a book about coming together, and is pitched young enough for young children to understand how the Indigenous people were here before Europeans came,” she said.
The project was organized and paid for by the local library board and was originally planned to celebrate the library’s 50th anniversary in 2021, but was delayed by the pandemic can now, unofficially, celebrate the 55th anniversary.
The StoryWalk will remain in place for three or four weeks, and Morraty said they would consider doing it again with another book in the future.
StoryWalk is an international grassroots movement that began in Vermont in 2007 to promote children’s literacy and increase the visibility of the library. It has since spread around the world, including in our region. Walks have been put up in the past in St. Andrews and on Grand Manan.
