Spend the day picking wild blueberries with Clarence and his grandmother. Meet ant, spider, and fox in a beautiful woodland landscape, the ancestral home of author and illustrator Julie Flett. It is about the Cree Nation of North America. Through this activity students will explore their own family traditions. 

  1. Read: Wild Berries by Julie Flett (2013) 

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PNK-5k-0JE 

Book with music, simplified reading of translated wordshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0WYnVmjGlg 

2. Discuss: 

A tradition is something that a family does on a regular basis—not just during holidays. With your family, discuss the following…  

  • What traditions do you and your family have?  
  • Do you have a favourite family tradition? 
  • What makes a tradition special? 
  • Why are traditions important to have and maintain? 
  • How did your family traditions start? Where did they come from? 
  • Have your traditions changed over time? 
  • Do you have different traditions with different family members? (i.e. your Mom’s side, your Dad’s side)

3. Create 

Make your own family tree. Choose the people you’d like to add into your tree. Consider adding the people who live at home with you, as well as the people you celebrate your family traditions with (ex. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc.) 

  • Add details to show how these people are connected ex. A line connecting yourself to your parents 
  • Add words or pictures to explain the tradition you share with each person on your tree 
  • Decorate your page, feel free to add pictures or words that you associate with your family traditions to the background and borders of your page 
  • You can even add a translation for your different family members if you speak any other languages! 

You can either use the family tree template, or choose to create your own! 

4. (Optional additional activities)  

  • Complete some, or all, of the activities found in this document 
  • Complete the “Wild Berries” word search  
  • Community/Indigenous Connection:  

Watch these Coast Salish videos of their Welcome Song and Chief Dan George’s Prayer Song, with the language of the First Nations people that live in our area of B.C