Reading "Sina and the Eel"...

"Sina and the Tuna" bottom right corner shelf and another re-telling top shelf second from left

Yesterday, as I was awaiting to have my Dentist appointment having arrived early, I decided to hop into another library to have a look around and read some books. I found a Pasifika book to read and went to a reading corner and became engrossed in reading.

Whilst I was there, I heard a little girl of about 5 - 7 years old reading in Samoan to her grandmother. When I heard the word "Sina" I looked up to see what book she was reading saw that she was reading the book that my husband and I worked on.

It brought tears to my eyes as I saw her reading to her nana in Samoan and then reading the facing page in English as her grandmother corrected her when she needed support. I thought to myself about how this was why I had wanted to write these books to encourage future generations to continue in the knowledge of our ancestors and for people of other cultures to also share in this special knowledge.

I thought about asking for a picture but then decided against it as I didn't want to intrude in this special moment that she was spending time together in an activity with her grandmother. I also marvelled at her being bilingual at such a young age to be able to read in both Samoan and English and this made me very happy.

After she left with her Grandmother, I went to see where she had left the book and found it on the library bookshelf in the Pasifika young children's section. I took a pic and then saw another book of the same story in English only and proceeded to read it.

The sad thing for me was that it was written as part of a series, a year after our book was released, some important information had been left out and some artistic license had been used to alter the story somewhat so that the crucial information that I had known in growing up and studying this story, was somewhat lost although the illustrations were neat.

It reminded me of how, as indigenous writers, we need to be very careful of these precious stories and information that needs to be written carefully so that future generations are aware of the nuances and the meanings behind these stories. I will forever be grateful of these opportunities of re-telling our stories but am also mindful of the responsibility that I take as an indigenous writer to keep as close to the original motifs of the story as possible...