In this dual-language picture book in English and Anishinaabemowin, a child is chased by Windigo, who preys on isolation and insecurity. But Kokum calls to the child with a message of hope, and a hummingbird arrives with teachings of love and resilience. You never walk alone.
Remember the hummingbird's teachings. Remember you are loved.
Kokum warned us to watch out for one another. If we weren't careful, Windigo would eat us. But one night, alone in the darkness, I felt its breath on my neck. Windigo's lies crept into my heart, and I believed them. When we lose connection with others, we lose ourselves, and Windigo's darkness grows and spreads.
In this deeply emotional and beautifully illustrated picture book, the ancestors send a hummingbird to a child lost in Windigo's darkness. Its teachings of resilience, love and connection bring the child home and remind us that our ancestors are always watching and can help us find our way if we only ask.
This bilingual book includes full text in both English and Anishinaabemowin.
Key Selling Points
• When an Indigenous child loses her way and is isolated and full of self-doubt, her grandmother and ancestors send help in the form of a hummingbird messenger, who brings teachings of resilience, love and connection.
• This beautifully illustrated story expresses hope, healing, and reclamation of Indigenous strength and identity in the wake of oppression and trauma.
• This is a dual-language book in English and Anishinaabemowin. There are many dialects of Anishinaabemowin, and this book presents a phonetic spelling of the language as learned by the author and co-translator in Duck Bay, northeastern Manitoba. The dialect is sometimes referred to as Western Ojibwa, Nakawēmowin, Saulteaux or Plains Ojibwa.
• Author Jennifer Leason began writing this story after being visited by a hummingbird at her window, at the time that her mother departed this world for the spirit world. She shares this story as a reminder of our connection to our families and our ancestors, who continue to guide our journeys.
Dr. Jennifer Leason is an off-reserve member of Minegoziibe Anishinabe (Pine Creek First Nation) in Manitoba, and the proud mother of Lucas and Lucy. Dr. Leason is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Maternal Child Wellness and an associate professor at the University of Calgary. She is the author and illustrator of Meennunyakaa / Blueberry Patch. She lives in Treaty 6 Territory.
Norman Chartrand is Anishinaabe and an off-reserve member of Minegoziibe Anishinabe (Pine Creek First Nation), Manitoba. He is Jennifer Leason's great-uncle and the son of Elise Beauchamp and Arthur Jacque (Jimmy) Chartrand. Elise Beauchamp was the daughter of Philoméne Klyne and Jean Beauchamp (son of Nancy Chartrand and Joseph Beauchamp). Arthur Jacque Chartrand was the son of Julia Brass (daughter of Julia McLeod of Pelly and George Brass) and William Gédeon Chartrand (son of Sophie Genaille and William Chartrand).
