Fergus native collaborates on book ‘So You Girls Remember That’

FERGUS – Former Fergus resident Jenny Nelson has recently collaborated on a novel So You Girls Remember That: Memories of a Haida Elder.

Compiling the oral history of Gaadgas Nora Bellis, So You Girls Remember is a window into the life of a Haida Elder, Bellis, who lived from 1902 to 1997 and a glimpse of Haida life in the 20th century.

Memories of childhood, canoe to seiner, seasonal villages, traditions and values, the new settler’s town, political relationships between Canada and the Haida are woven together through story and song.

What shines through is Bellis’ singular and dynamic voice, expressing her spirit for living with joy, humour and resourcefulness, officials say.

What’s also apparent, they add, is her love of children, music and social life, her kindness, strong will, spirituality and creativity – a spirit that nurtured and endured.

Nelson, who grew up in Fergus, currently resides on Haida Gwaii in B.C.

As a part-time teacher, writer and full-time mother and grandmother, she lives down by the harbour in Masset.

Nelson says she has put years of research, interviews and personal times with Nora into the book, which is now available at Magic Pebble Books in Elora.

She has previously published children books including The Weavers, Island Rhymes, Jessica and the Lost Story, Westcoast Rhymes and Archibald and the Crunch Machine.