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
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.