Section 5.2 American Sign Language – Small Number and the Salmon Harvest
Written by: Veselin Jungic and Mark MacLean Illustrated by: Simon Roy and Jess Pollard The American Sign Language translation and narration by Dominique Ireland of the Oneida Nation of the ThamesSmall Number is a young boy who gets into a lot of mischief. He lives in a small village by the water with his mother and father. It is a crisp autumn day and Small Number is helping his father to prepare the nets for tomorrow’s salmon harvest.
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Small Number is very excited about his new adventure and when he finally gets to sleep, he dreams about a big salmon jumping out of the water and falling back with a splash.
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Down on the beach, Small Number sees a group of men and starts running towards them as fast as he can. “Just on time, Small Number,” says his grandfather hugging him. “Our canoes are loaded with nets and baskets and we are ready to go.”
When they arrive at Straight Line Beach, Small Number’s grandpa and uncle pull their canoe out of the water. Small Number and his father stay in their canoe and pass the ends of the net lines to Grandfather. Small Number paddles away from the beach while his dad continues to pay out the net lines.
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While his dad pulls the canoe out of water, Small Number asks, “How many salmon will we catch today? How are we going to divide the salmon among our families? Will there be enough for everybody? How do we know that the salmon will come back?”
“We have our ways,” answers his father. “Now, you stay here to help your uncle pull on the net lines. I’m going to help grandpa.”
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Question: Why did Small Number think that during a low tide the catch would be much smaller?
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