This year I was hired to do some work for the Metro Toronto Zoo- specifically with their "Turtle Island" conservation committee.
Turtle Island Conservation is an aboriginal based conservation group that deals with conserving the local Turtle, Lizard, and Amphibian wildlife, here in Ontario. It also deals with Water conservation and Wet Land conservation.

This year, we were assembling a Teacher Guide and Student Manual for grade school children that dealt with the concept of Turtle Conservation. This guide is made available to all the local Reserves and aboriginal communities- making the children aware of the importance of conserving their local wildlife, as well as their culture. Through the course, they also pick up on a multitude of other skills: Reading, Math, Biology, Science, and Conservation.

While putting this manual together, we dealt with 3 main Local Nations: Anishinabe, Hudishoni, and Odawa (Spelling variations not included). I was hired to illustrate many of the images, including a "main character"- an old female Turtle by the name of Miskwedasi. A painted turtle, Miskwedasi guides the children through the entire course as Story Teller and Elder.

Here are a few of the various illustrations. Miskwedasi is the "beady eye" turtle (with the appropriate markings on her shell and body). The other turtles are various other species, caricatured for the guide.

The guide is well over 200+ pages.

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There are 8 species of Turtles that reside as natives to Ontario.
6 of those species are highly endangered, and on the brink of extinction. Main reasons include: Loss of habitat due to over industrialization, loss of habitat due to pollution (intoxication of soil and water), and invasive species (like the Texan Red Ear).

While many disregard the animal due to colonial misrepresentations and symbolism, Turtles play a vital role in our Wet Land habitats- from cleansing the dangerous insect populations, to filtering and cleaning the swamp lands. The loss of this animal is an equal devastation as the loss of the Frog population- an amphibian also endangered due to the same factors.

Turtles do NOT make good pets! Many turtle outlive the novelty factor with children, and sometime outlive their own owners. The costliness of keeping a turtle grows exponentially with time- and leads many to abandon them in the prime of their lives (aquarium needs as well as habitat needs with breeding mature adults).
The most common "pet" turtle is an invasive species- The Texan Red Ear- that has wreaked devastation on the local populations due to a huge sum of abandonment by owners.

Please do not buy turtles form pet stores! They do not make good pets! Those interested in helping conservation efforts of our own species can contact Turtle Island for more information, and available partnership or volunteer work:
http://www.torontozoo.com/adoptapond/tici.asp