Sheila Shares Her Gift
An Indigenous View of Disability
by Brandon Mitchell

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The Turtle Island friends are at soccer practice when they meet a new kid named Sheila. When Sheila the fox uses sign language to communicate, the team is confused at first and makes Sheila feel shy. Wendell the owl, Sheila's friend, shares that he is different, too. Through Wendell and Sheila, the group learns that we are all different and all have special gifts. The team welcomes their new friend, and she doesn’t feel nervous anymore.

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Brandon Mitchell is Mi’gmaq from Listuguj First Nations in Quebec and currently resides in the unceded Wolastoqiyik territory of Fredericton, New Brunswick. He is a husband to Natasha Martin and father to Brayden and Bryce Mitchell. He carries a Diploma in Animation and Design from the New Brunswick Community College of Miramichi and holds a master’s degree in Education from the University of New Brunswick. He is the founder of Birch Bark Comics and creator of the Sacred Circles comic series, which explored his Mi’kmaq heritage through a contemporary lens.He has authored six stories for Indigenous Story Studio: Lost Innocence, Drawing Hope, River Run, Making it Right, Emily’s Choice and Tomorrow’s Hope. He was approached to by the University of Alabama to script and illustrated Jean-Paul’s Daring Adventure: Stories from Old Mobile. He was also a contributing author of “Migwite’tmeg: We Remember It” for “This Place: 150 years retold” which recounts the events leading up to the infamous salmon raids that took place in Listuguj in the summer of 1981 by Highwater Press.Brandon is also the creator and author of a new young readers series “Giju’s Gift” published by Highwater Press. In it, a Mi’kmaw girl battles an ancient giant and forms an unexpected friendship in the first volume of this series of graphic novels inspired by traditional stories. www.birchbarkcomics.com @writerbrandonmitchell Jessica Jerome (Two-spirited) Jessica Jerome, a graduate of the Graphic Design Diploma program at Nova Scotia Community College, was born in Listuguj Mi’ gmaq First Nation. She was adopted at birth by the Jerome family in Gesgapegiag, and is a member of the Micmacs of Gesgapegiag Band, located on the banks of the Gaspe Coast, QC. As a teenager, she met her biological mother Linda Barnaby, a hobby artist who would create pieces of work with only a pencil. Just three years after they met, Linda died of cervical cancer at the age of 38. Jessica’s adoptive parents, Doris and Peter Jerome, then enrolled her into an introduction to oil painting course. In 2004, Jessica began painting her dreams and emotions as a way of dealing with grief, beginning with landscapes, which quickly developed into painting traditional Indigenous imagery with her own contemporary vision. Jessica’s art has been displayed in several galleries from Quebec City to Nova Scotia. Her work is owned privately in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Germany, and has appeared in several art shows. She is currently living in Bridgewater, NS working as a Freelance Graphic Designer. Mike Hennessey is an Indigenous professional counsellor and has worked in a clinical setting with children for the past several years. A major focus of his work is helping young children cope with strong emotions while taking personal responsibility for their decisions and building strong, positive relationships with others. This experience resulted in Mike co writing Hunter Makes a Choice, as well as other books in this series. He lives in Oromocto, New Brunswick, with his wife and two small children.

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Contributors

Author

Brandon Mitchell

Editor

Mike Hennessey

Illustrator

Jessica Jerome

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