1 Sweetgrass

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A teenager sits on the street beside a backpack. A cardboard sign says, "Hungry. Anything helps. Thanks!"

Max used to live on the street. Now he lives in a house for other kids from the street.

A teenager smiles at a man. They both sit on a bench.

One of the workers at the house is named Dan. Dan is Cree like Max.

A teenager and a man kneel in tall grass. The man reaches down and touches the grass.

One day, Dan takes Max to pick sweetgrass. They walk out onto the wetland. The sweetgrass is very tall. It bends when they step on it. But it does not break. Dan says, “The sweetgrass tells us to be kind when we are hurt.”

A teenager and man pick tall grass, leaving the roots in the earth.

Dan asks the sweetgrass if he can pick it. Then Dan and Max pick what they need. They leave the roots in the land. This way, the sweetgrass will grow again next year.

A teenager holds a long grass braid, grinning.

After that, they make the sweetgrass into a braid. Dan tells Max that sweetgrass takes away bad feelings. It makes room for happy feelings. So Max keeps the sweetgrass close.

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BC Reads: Adult Literacy Fundamental English - Reader 1 by Shantel Ivits is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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