Weaving Text and Pictures

A Village by the Sea

Selkies and Seal Legends

Spinning Tales Around the Text

The people of the Maes y Mynydd followed the dream that began when the stranger came to the village. They packed everything they could carry and travelled to a land they knew little about. If you look at a map of America, Canada or Australia, all around the main ports where immigrants landed the names of the towns are echoes of the places left behind. You can see this very graphically in the name of the Australian State, New South Wales.

• Take a look at maps of America, Canada and Australia for names of places from the homelands.
• Try to imagine how the people felt when they arrived in their "promised lands"

People still migrate from their homelands today, some escaping war, some hoping to escape poverty, all looking for a better life and a safe place to bring up their children.

• Imagine yourself a stranger in a strange land.
• How would you welcome people to your community and help them to feel safe and welcome.

All of the countries that people emigrated to were inhabited by indigenous people. Native Americans and Aboriginal peoples had rich cultures and had lived in harmony with the land for centuries. With the arrival of European settlers their way of life was shattered and their struggle to re-establish their landrights continues to this day.

• Look at The Rabbits by Shaun Tan, Published by Lothian, a book about colonization in Australia.
• For older readers, read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a book about the struggle of the Native American Peoples.