In a world often dominated by challenging headlines, Yahoo News Canada aims to spotlight uplifting news stories both local and beyond. This week’s uplifting stories include a northern B.C. teacher adding cultural twist to holiday carols, a hero transforming lives of by fostering dogs for people battling addiction and wanting to seek treatment, and an Apple AirTag played a key role in saving a family’s dog from raging floodwaters.
🎄B.C. teacher translates popular Christmas songs into Dakelh language
Indigenous language teacher Cherie Chai holds up the lyrics to a Dakelh language version of Frosty the Snowman, alongside Lheidli T’enneh elder Clifford Quaw. (Image courtesy: CBC News)
A teacher in northern British Columbia is giving holiday classics a cultural twist, translating them into Dakelh — the language of the Lheidli T’enneh people, whose traditional territory includes Prince George.
Originally from Singapore, Cherie Chai works with elders, knowledge keepers, and linguists to keep Dakelh alive in School District No. 57.
READ FULL STORY: Northern B.C. teacher translates popular Christmas songs into Dakelh language
For the Christmas season, she teamed up with linguist Bill Poser to reimagine three beloved holiday songs, creating Dakelh versions to bring tradition and creativity into her classroom.
“It reflects the diversity in this community here so I want everybody to use it as much as possible,” Chai said.
Clifford Quaw, a Lheidli T’enneh elder, says he was astonished to hear popular Christmas tunes sung in his language.
Lheidli T’enneh elder, educator and residential school survivor Clifford Quaw. (Image courtesy: CBC News)
Just speaking Dakelh was something he was punished for when he was forced to attend the Lejac Residential School in 1953 at age five.
“I didn’t realize you can sing in Dakelh language,” he said.
“Whenever we were at home, say, for summer holidays, my parents talked to me in Dakelh and I understood it and I was on the verge of learning. Then we had to go back to Lejac and we forgot about it because we weren’t allowed to speak our own language in the residential school.”
“One of the reasons why I really think a lot of this is because our language is on the verge of being lost, because there’s very, very few of Dakelh teachers left.”
Chai said she hopes to create more Dakelh versions of songs in the future so teachers in the district have more options to incorporate into their lesson plans.
🫂 Watch — Sweet reunion: Man discovers long-lost mother is owner of local bakery
🦸🏻♂️ Hero of the year: Man fosters pets for recovering addicts seeing rehab
Stephen Knight, whose nonprofit offers a lifeline by fostering dogs while their owners overcome addiction, has been named the 2024 CNN Hero of the Year.
Knight’s journey began in 2011, when at the age of 51, he had lost everything to meth addiction — his family, his job, his home, and nearly his life. HIV positive, and living out of his car, Knight entered rehab at the behest of his mother.
After months of treatment, and at a delicate time in his recovery, Knight’s life changed when a friend showed up at his door in tears. She had relapsed, and in her arms was her beloved dog, Jayde. Knight’s friend said no one would take Jayde, and she asked Knight for a ride to a shelter so she could surrender her.
“I looked at Jayde, and we looked at each other,” Knight said. “It was one of the most spiritual moments, like ‘I think we might need each other here.’”
Knight soon realized that other people were delaying or forgoing treatment because they could not find safe housing for their pets. He sought advice on best practices from a local animal rescue and educated himself on foster care protocol.
“These shelters are running 150 percent over capacity. If you’re over capacity, then you start euthanizing dogs,” Knight said. “We cannot have the solution be euthanize dogs. We can’t.”
Today, Knight lives with his three dogs, Jayde, Piper and Lady, and his organization has helped more than 1,200 dogs and their owners. As Knight approaches 14 years clean and sober, he hopes to make Dogs Matter a national model program, with the goal of giving other animals and their humans the same second chance at life that he got.
“I share this award with Jayde. She’s the reason why I did this. One act of kindness and then to have that dream and that goal to be able to help others and do one step at a time to get there. And…1,200 dogs later it’s amazing. It’s just beginning too.”
🐶 Watch — AirTag helps save family’s dog swept away in floodwaters
🏒 Winnipeg Jets’ forward makes history as first Chinese-born player signed to NHL
Kevin He, 18, has made history by becoming the first hockey player born in China to sign an NHL contract, inking a three-year, entry-level deal with the Winnipeg Jets worth $975,000 per season at the NHL level, the Canadian hockey team announced on Wednesday.
“It’s a dream come true,” He said at Sphere Las Vegas after being selected by the Jets. “It’s incredible, a huge honor.”
Under the announcement posted by the Winnipeg Jets, many netizens congratulated He, with some describing his achievement as “well-deserved.”
In June, He was selected by the Winnipeg Jets in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft (109th overall), becoming the highest-drafted Chinese-born player in NHL history and the second Chinese-born player ever drafted, following in the footsteps of Anton Song, who was picked by the New York Islanders in the sixth round (172nd overall) in 2015
“This means a lot to me and my family,” He said when asked about being the highest-drafted Chinese-born player in NHL history. “I grew up in China, so I had some chances to skate.”
Do you have an uplifting moment or story you would like to share with us? Email the Yahoo Canada team: canadatips@yahoonews.com.