the story

When the earth turns to dust in your fingers
When the hot parched ground is baked hard
When all of your hopes have gone
Never despair

When streams and mighty rivers run dry
When all that was green turns yellow-brown
When your throat aches with thirst
Neither fear nor despair

From high in the Western sky he comes
Wings outspread to touch the clouds
On his solid back he bears a lake of dew
From his wing tips, drop by drop, to refresh

A gift from the thunder spirit, guardian of the sky
Oshadagea flies with crisp wing beat over barren earth
The Bringer of the Dew has come
Never despair, neither fear nor despair
Renewal has come.

Key Stage 2 Activities

Illuminating

Illuminating doesn’t only mean lighting things, it’s also a word describing the process of decorating letters.

Often caligraphers or scribes decorated the first letter of the word which began a document. Illuminating can use very intricate, ornate detail or it can be quite simple like the first letter of Oshadagea’s name below.

Try illuminating for yourself, you could decorate each letter in Oshadagea’s name. You can even experiment with a different style for each letter.

Viewpoints

Oshadagea the eagle flies high in the air so we can only look up and see him from underneath.

Can you imagine what you would look like from a worm’s viewpoint? Draw your idea.

Eagle Poetry

Can you write a short five line poem describing an eagle?

Use the five letters of the word ‘eagle’ as the first letters of each line. These sort of poems are called ‘acrostics’.

A Noisy Picture?

Paintings don’t usually come with soundtracks.

If you were asked to come up with sound effects for this painting what would they be? Can you think of five or more sounds which might accompany the image?

My Bark Canoe

My Bark Canoe is an old Ojibway song, see if you can singalong if you cannot manage the Ojibway words there is an english version below it in See lyric…

See lyric…

Chekahbay tebik
ondandeyan
Chekahbay tebik
ondandeyan
Ahgahmahsibi
ondandeyan

My Bark Canoe

In the still night,
the long hours through
I guide my bark canoe
My bark canoe
my love, to you

While the stars shine
and falls the dew
I seek my love
in bark canoe
In bark canoe
I seek for you

It is I, love,
your lover true,
Who glides the stream
in bark canoe;
It glides to you,
my love, to you

The literal translation from Ojibway is: Throughout the night I keep awake, throughout the night I keep awake. Upon the river I keep awake.

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