Education News | Page 17
Nahanni herself is a mix of Cree and Chipewyan( Dene). Her middle name, Evelyn, was given to her after the Evelyn Falls in the NWT. Given the meaning of her names and a childhood lived out in Yellowknife, it is little wonder that Nahanni loves to spend time in the outdoors and to hike.
Nahanni feels little connection with her current last name Adams- Lindberg. Adams is the name of the family who raised her mom after she was scooped in the 60s. And Lindberg is the family name of her father, who left when she was very young.“ I still have a close relationship with my dad, but my name has no significance to me; that is why I want to change it to Rose, which has more meaning.”
Rose was name of the family’ s first pet dog, adopted when they relocated to Saskatchewan. The significance of the name Rose, says Nahanni,“ is that there are four letters in the word and there are four people in our family. Roses are beautiful but they have some thorns, like we have.”
Rose, the pet, brought their family together through the hardships they experienced after moving away from Yellowknife and through the difficult financial and emotional time while Nahanni’ s mom, Carol, transitioned from being a journalist with CBC to a full-time artist / writer. Carol had been working on her first novel, Bearskin Diary, on top of her regular job and single parenting while the family lived in Yellowknife. But after a friend who had deferred his dreams until retirement passed away, Carol decided not to put off working on her art.
A year or so after settling down at Regina Beach, Carol left her job with CBC to establish herself as an artist. Nahanni says,“ We ended up getting poorer at first. I know what it is like to grow up without money. But it all paid off in the end.” Nahanni points to the struggles faced by their family as showing,“ what it’ s like being raised by a single mom from the 60s scoop.” The difference being,“ My mom ensured we grew up with a loving mom, something she never grew up with, a mom. I am living a happy life regardless of the obstacles my family has faced— we always make it out strong.” This outcome aligns with the oft-repeated family mindset of“ Everything is going to work out.” And it has. Carol is now a successful published novelist, poet, playwright, visual artist, and musician and Nahanni is on her way to her chosen profession: teaching.
Growing up in Yellowknife was a great experience for Nahanni:“ I loved it! I grew up with my brothers, grew up on the back rocks, playing outdoors, in the bush.” Nahanni is the twin sister of her younger brother( by 11 minutes) Danny, and
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