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Announcement: Christine’s Writing and Consulting

Christine’s Writing and Consulting

www.christineswritingandconsulting.ca

(416) 571-3112/(437) 286-9306

Hours: 9am-5pm EST

Bio:

Christine Miskonoodinkwe-Smith- is a Saulteaux woman from Peguis First Nation and the author of “These Are the Stories: Memories of a 60s Scoop Survivor” published by Kegedonce Press in December 2021 and the editor of “Silence to Strength: Writings and Reflections of Sixty Scoop Survivors,” also published by Kegedonce Press in October 2022.  She is an author, editor, writer, and journalist who graduated from the University of Toronto with a specialization in Aboriginal Studies in June 2011 and went on to receive her Master’s in Education in Social Justice in June 2017. She has written for the Native Canadian, Anishinabek News, Windspeaker, FNH Magazine, New Tribe Magazine, Muskrat Magazine, the Piker Press and The Advocate which is a part of the Chiefs of Ontario and is published by MediaEdge Publishing. She has also co-edited the anthology Bawaajigan with fellow Indigenous writer Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler.

She is currently working on a YA Novel and thinking of her next project.

About Christine’s Writing and Consulting

As an Indigenous woman, I am working to amplify the voices and stories of fellow First Nations/Metis/Inuit peoples.

I am a proud member of the Indigenous Editors Association, the Writers Union of Canada and AuthorsBooking.com

Her first book “These Are The Stories: Memories of a 60s Scoop Survivor” was longlisted for the First Nations Community Reads Program, “Silence to Strength: Writings and Reflections of Sixty Scoop Survivors” was short listed for First Nations Read Program in 2023.

As a sole proprietorship, I am offering the following services.

  • Editing: copy editing, developmental editing, digital content editing
  • Textbook Proofreading
  • Cultural sensitivity readings
  • Curriculum Development documents, especially pertaining to Indigenous ways of knowing.
  • Mentoring: the craft of writing; platform development for sharing stories and viewpoints

 Presentation Rates:

  • 250.00 for one session
  • $450.00 for a two-hour session
  • $675.00 for threes session
  • $1,000 for a full day.
  • Travel fee $.50/km if outside of Toronto. I don’t drive and would require funding for train or bus, plus Uber if available.

Note: It is important to tell people that all prices are negotiable within reason.

Thank you for your support!

Author Presentation/Visit Rates

Bio:

Christine Miskonoodinkwe-Smith- is a Saulteaux woman from Peguis First Nation and the author of “These Are the Stories: Memories of a 60s Scoop Survivor”. She is an author, editor, writer, and journalist who graduated from the University of Toronto with a specialization in Aboriginal Studies in June 2011 and went on to receive her Master’s in Education in Social Justice in June 2017. Her first non-fiction story “Choosing the Path to Healing” appeared in the 2006 anthology Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces. She has written for the Native Canadian, Anishinabek News, Windspeaker, FNH Magazine, New Tribe Magazine, Muskrat Magazine and the Piker Press. She has also co-edited the anthology Bawaajigan with fellow Indigenous writer Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler.

Presentation Rates:

$250.00-300.00 for one session, $450.00 for two, $675.00 for three, $1,000 for full day. Travel Fee$.50 if outside of Toronto. I don’t drive and would require funding for train or bus, plus Uber if available.

I can be contacted at chrissy.miskonoodinkwesmith@gmail.com/christinemsmith1491@yahoo.com

Website:

http:// http://www.christineswritingandconsulting.ca

I HEAR THEIR CRIES

By: Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith

I HEAR THEIR CRIES:

By: Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith

I hear their cries

As I try to sleep

Their words

Whispering 

In my ears

Please I want to go

Home

I think of the lost 

And what must have 

Been going through 

Their minds

As they were led away

And the government long 

Saying

No there’s been no genocide

We’ve committed no crime

But I hear their cries 

As I try to sleep

Their words

Whispering 

in my ears

Please I want to go 

Home 

Please I ask you

Think of those lost

The 215 children

Buried

Forgotten

And buried 

In unmarked

Graves

Weeks slip by

By Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith

Weeks have slipped by
Barely any words exchanged

A text here and there,
Or a quick FaceTime call
Is not the same

I miss everyone
This pandemic
Has taken away a closeness
I have always felt
With all my relations

Weeks have gone by
Barely any words exchanged

I miss the words, the hugs
And just seeing people in person

This pandemic
Has taught me

Never take things
In life
For granted

Try to bury the words
That have hurt
And reach out

And no matter
How much time passes

Always remember
Contact is necessary

We all need to reconnect
In good ways
That will only nurture us
But nurture those
Who are hurting the most

And try to hide
From it all

One way of Coping Through These Difficult Times

By: Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith

I still remember the day our world as we knew it turned upside down. We went from going wherever we wanted, socializing with friends, attending events, and going back and forth to work. Then BOOM…. the news hit-COVID 19 had hit throughout the world, and our actions were all scaled back.

COVID 19 quickly became a pandemic, where our cities literally had to shut down. Living in Toronto, where the population is according to Blog.TO around 45, 742, and the surrounding area has grown by 127,575 people, you’re used to going at a pace like no other. Scurrying everywhere, running from one place to another and and being squished like a sardine, pressed up against hundreds of others on the TTC. Yes I’ve witnessed many a people lose their temper just because you may not be walking as fast as the person behind you. Yeah, I’ve witnessed that more than I care to count on my fingers, and I’ve been guilty of that in the past too, but I’ve had to slow down because due to degenerative disc disease, I have had to walk with the assistance of a cane for most of this past year.

Yes, times are difficult. They are difficult for everyone. At first, when businesses had to close down, and we had to stay home, I kind of welcomed the change, but as time has worn on, I’ve had to learn how to readjust to what is our new ‘normal”. The new ‘normal’ being FaceTiming with friends, having contactless delivery, and most of all working from home.

I’m fortunate to be someone who is still working during this pandemic, but when we were told at work that it may only be a couple of weeks, and then it turned into over three months, I’ve had to learn to adopt a routine that I can follow at home, and self care practices in order to keep myself sane. So, one day, I saw a self care medicine wheel on the Indigenous website of TASSC, and thought, HEY! I can make my own version, put what I think I need to work on, and then hang it above my work desk, to remind myself when I get stressed to do one of the items listed on my self care medicine wheel.

I have grown to understand that when my emotional, physical, mental and spiritual health are in sync, I feel much better about myself and I don’t feel so despondent. I’ve been learning that my taking just a few minutes to myself every day, I can be in control of how I feel and how I can be present in the world.

This is what I have written for each realm in my self care medicine wheel. In the physical I have written things I can do :

  1. Get enough sleep
  2. Go for walks
  3. social distance safely
  4. stay hydrated
  5. eat healthy

In the mental realm:

  1. give myself time to read
  2. learn something new
  3. limit social media
  4. stick to a routine
  5. give myself “silence” time

In the emotional:

  1. FaceTime with friends
  2. give myself the time to write
  3. reach out to a friend
  4. don’t be afraid to ask for support
  5. listen to music/laugh

and lastly in the spiritual:

  1. listen to my Elders/or phone one
  2. smudge myself and my apartment
  3. practice self-reflection/meditation
  4. remember to breathe

As a lesson in patience, I made my self care medicine wheel in a word document, carefully drawing each quadrant, and listing all the things I want to do to take better care of myself. Yep, I swore a few times, almost wanted to throw my laptop off my table while doing this exercise, but once I had it done, I was really happy. I had sat long enough to do something that I haven’t allowed myself to do in ages-focusing on my inner health.

COVID has turned my world upside down, and I am sure that it has for everyone else. We’ve all had to learn how to adjust to a world we haven’t experienced before. We have to keep our distances so that this disease doesn’t spread and make things even worse. We’ve gone without seeing our friends or in some cases family, virtual Zoom meetings are the norm, and now it is a bylaw that we don masks, in order to protect not only ourselves but others around us, who may have a immunocompromised immune system.

Times are difficult, but if you struggle with trying to cope in this new world as it is now, I gently suggest that you sit down and take the time to really reflect on what you can do for yourself. When you figure out what you can do to assist yourself in these trying times to keep up the good fight- obstacles get overcome!