In this collection of paintings and stories, painter Lisa Fifield and writer Lise Erdrich honor their Native American tradition in their own unique ways. Together they pay homage to the people, animals, forests, and rivers that have lived in harmony beneath the wide skies of the Plains.
As winter falls, women fill the bellies of hungry bears with sweet stories, so they will sleep till spring. Crows call out a warning of enemy soldiers in pursuit so that a tribe may escape to safety unharmed. An abandoned yearling moose is cared for by children who find him crying for his mother. And animals of all stripes and feathers gather to pay respects to a beloved chief who has fallen defending his people.
Lise Erdrich is a counselor and health educator at the Circle of Nations Indian School in Wahpeton, North Dakota. She is of Native American and German descent, and is enrolled in the Turtle Mountain Band of Plains Ojibway. Her writing has appeared in literary magazines and anthologies.
Lisa Fifield is a renowned watercolorist and quiltmaker. She is of Native American and German descent, and is enrolled in the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. Her award-winning artwork has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world.
• 2003 Minnesota Book Award (Multicultural Category)
"The stories demonstrate something that is common to nearly every Native tradition: that we do not see ourselves as better or on a different level than all the other forms of life with whom we share this Earth." —Multi-Cultural Review
"Erdrich's "language is natural and lyrical, and reads well aloud. . . Fifield's watercolors, in vabrant earth tones, cover half or two-thirds of each wide spread. Her piecework-like compositions solidly straddle the line between realism and imagination. . . this is still evocative of traditions very much alive today, though not widely evident in children's literature." —Kirkus Reviews
"Lise Erdrich's tales add piquant spice to Lisa Fifield's exquisite artwork, creating simple sumptuous servings of Northern Woodlands lore. . . Whether parents read to tiny tots or listen to older children sound out the words all by themselves, the short stories will satisfy kids' appetite for imagination." —Native Peoples Magazine
