11-year-old B.C. girl publishes Indigenous language book after winning UNESCO writing contest
Addy Newman-Ting is in the midst of building a miniature amusement park in her basement for a cast of eclectic characters.
“I like to put cute faces on them,” she says, showing CTV News chestnuts with googly-eye stickers and woodblocks with jiffy-marker smiles.
When Addy’s not crafting rides out of cardboard for them, the 11-year-old’s constructing stories about them on her computer.
“I just like writing,” she says. “It just comes out and it’s a good way to express things.”
Like the sorts of things you think about while growing-up in a multi-cultural family.
“My mom’s language is Mandarin and that’s spoken worldwide,” Addy explains. “But my dad’s (Indigenous) language is almost dead and gone.”
So when Addy heard about a youth writing competition organized by UNESCO, she wondered if this was her chance to raise global awareness about the traditional Kwak’wala language, and asked her dad, Carey Newman, for help.
“What do you do when your kid says that?” Carey smiles. “You say, ‘Of course! I’ll do everything I can to support you.’”
So Carey accepted the role of “research assistant” while Addy wrote the story. It’s about two friends who join forces with two talking animals to inspire a community to protect the environment and find their lost language.
“When she made this connection between land and language,” Carey begins saying, before stopping to fight back tears.
“Kids and their perspective have a way of cutting through all the politics and things and finding the purity of it.”
Addy ended up winning UNESCO's Voices of Future Generations project. Although she feels honoured and grateful that her book — “Finding the Language” — is being published, she’s not pursuing a career as a writer.
“I don’t think I want to be an author,” she says.
She says she wants do something more visually artistic (like what she’s building in her basement) when she grows up, but felt compelled to write the book.
“I want to do it now,” Addy explains. “Because I want the world to hear about it now.”
Now, before it’s too late to find what’s lost and create a real world like the imaginary ones she makes out of cardboard: a world that’s connected, caring, and inclusive.
“We shouldn’t make everybody the same,” Addy says. “We should celebrate each other’s differences.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.