The First Fry Bread
A Gitxsan Story
by Dr. M. Jane Smith (Xsiwis)

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Fry bread has a significant role in the Gitxsan culture. It is often served both at home and at feasts. The fry bread story has a message for children on the importance of building up their spirits.

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M. Jane Smith was born and raised in the Gitxsan Community of Gitanmaaxs in northwestern BC. Listening to stories as a child was the beginning of her education. She now holds a Bachelor degree from the University of Victoria, a Masters degree from the University of Northern British Columbia and a Doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia. ‘Returning the Feathers (Five Gitxsan Stories)’ is the title of her first book. M. Jane Smith teaches in an elementary school in the Gitxsan Territories. Ken N. Mowatt was born in 1944, in the Gitxsan Community of Gitanmaaxs. He began his studies of Northwest Coast art in 1969 and later began instructing at the Kitanmax Northwest Coast Indian Art School. His art speaks of age-old cosmology of harmony between the natural and spiritual worlds of the Gitxsan. His serigraphs and carvings display a refined technical understanding of the Gitxsan art form, with it an underlying mystical and spiritual element. Ken’s art work can be seen in museums, corporate and private collections locally and abroad. Ken, as he would say, is still pursuing the magical mysteries of the old Gitxsan art.

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Contributors

Author

Dr. M. Jane Smith (Xsiwis)

Illustrator

Ken N. Mowatt (Mas lik’i’nsxw)

Editor

Jordan Wheeler

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