Small Number and the Salmon Harvest – Sliammon

Written by Veselin Jungic & Mark MacLean
Illustrated by Simon Roy & Jess Pollard

Small 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. “There is a school of salmon by Straight Line Beach. We need to set our net in the morning while the tide is still high,” says Small Number’s father...


Small Number and the Salmon Harvest
(Sliammon Translation)

Sliammon Translation by Betty Wilson

Story Transcript: English and Sliammon

About the Sliammon language

The Sliammon, Homalco and Klahoose peoples were at one time one nation.  Our ancestors made their homes along the inlets, islands and sheltered coves and came together for celebrations or gathering of certain types of food which were seasonal.  They would build their homes as close as possible to the natural resources.  Today we are endeavouring to maintain our language and our culture.  We are once again working together to preserve our language which is in danger of becoming extinct.  We feel that by working in partnership with interested individuals such as Dr. Veselin Jungic, our young people will once again become knowledgeable of the language but also how adept our ancestors were with science.

Credits and Acknowledgements

Voice: Willard Buddy Joseph of the Squamish Nation Illustrator: Simon Roy, Victoria, BC and Jess Pollard, Victoria, BC Sound Recording: David Brigden, SFU Music: Cameron Tatham, Vancouver, BC and Barry Cardinal of the Bigstone Cree Nation Sound Design and Animation: Andrew Gavel, SFU Producer: Veselin Jungic, SFU Director: Andrew Gavel, SFU Special thanks to: Pam Borghardt, The IRMACS Centre, SFU Ozren Jungic, University of Oxford Benson Nookemis of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Nation Sheena Falconer, West Coast Aquatic Oshelle, Sliammon Nation Department of Mathematics, SFU Department of Mathematics, UBC Faculty of Science, SFU Office for Aboriginal Peoples, SFU Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences The beach seining scene is based on the description given in "Indian Fishing: Early Methods of the Northwest Coast" by Hillary Stewart (Vancouver: J.J. Douglas, 1977) This movie is part of the NSERC PromoScience project "Math Catcher: Mathematics Through Aboriginal Storytelling"