Memekew Apetawakeesic-Morriseau has drawn from her own experiences being bullied to create award-winning artwork that the 14-year-old hopes will help others open up about their experiences.
The artwork — which portrays a young girl surrounded by tall, menacing figures calling her names like “loser” and “crybaby” — was recently named winner of the Red Alert! Bullying Hurts! campaign by Tikinagan Child and Family Services in Sioux Lookout in northwestern Ontario .
The art by Memekew, who’s from North Caribou Lake First Nation, was chosen from 130 contest entries.
She said being bullied when she was younger affected her self-esteem while growing up.
“Well, at that age, I shouldn’t be experiencing that.”
Memekew, shown with her certificate from Tikinagan Child and Family Services, says she was reluctant to enter the contest but her parents encouraged her to do so. (Tikinagan Child & Family Services/Provided)
Memekew said she was initially reluctant to enter the contest, but her parents encouraged her.
“I guess I just didn’t want to be noticed.
“I was really proud of myself because it was my biggest achievement so far,” she said of winning the contest. “And I’m also scared because of the spotlight.”
Carlena Petawaick, the North Caribou First Nation Youth Advocate and band councillor, who also experienced bullying, said she was touched by Memekew’s artwork.
“When you’re bullied, it sticks with you and it’s just in the back of your head,” she said. “You think that everybody’s like that.”
Community does its share to counter bullying
As part of its anti-bullying work, the North Caribou community has a number of services, including prevention services and speech therapy, and recently held a week of events focusing on the issue.
Petawaick hopes the anti-bullying efforts will help more youth open up about their experiences.
“We’re hoping to aim for younger children and our youth that are like maybe 16 to 18,” she said. “We’re planning that right now. And we’re also going to work on the adults … because we still have cycles to break.”
James Benson, a prevention co-ordinator with Tikinagan, said he’s received great community feedback about Memekew’s artwork.
“Everybody is pretty impressed with her, with her artwork,” he said. “People are asking if T-shirts are going to be made available, or sweaters.
“They’re currently working on it, so hopefully [we’ll] get them soon.”
Benson said North Caribou’s recent week of anti-bullying events, which he described as more of a youth conference, are already making a difference.
“We see kids that came out that you wouldn’t see talking to anybody — they would be in their own bubble,” he said. “A few days before the conference ended, they were all out and about just talking to people. And they were not shy. They were not scared.”
More workshops and events are being planned, said Benson.
9:04Tikanagan anti-bullying art contest winner
Bullying hurts. That’s the message a teenager from North Caribou Lake First Nation wants other kids to understand. Memekew Apetawakeesic-Morriseau is the winner of an anti-bullying art contest, sponsored by Tikanagan. She drew on her own experiences to create her powerful image. The CBC’s Amy Hadley spoke with her about her artwork. She also spoke with several youth workers to learn more about the impact of this contest and anti-bullying campaign. 9:04
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
