Two sisters have waited all spring and summer to pick berries with their ningiuq, their grandmother. They’ve gone fishing, dug for clams, and by the time late summer arrives, it’s finally time for berries! Ninguiq and the girls head out to pick berries, rain or shine nothing will stop Ningiuq! Through driving rain and early autumn snow the girls and Ningiuq pick as many sweet berries as their buckets can hold. The hard work is all worth it to enjoy the delicious treats Ninguiq creates with her berries.
Indigenous
The Woman And Her Bear Cub
When a mother and daughter find a polar bear cub alone on the sea ice, the daughter cannot bear to leave it behind. Finding no mother bear in sight, the two adopt the cub and raise it as the girl’s brother.
Benjamin’s Thunderstorm
Benjamin loves the rain. He loves splashing through puddles in his bright yellow rain boots and watching the colors of a rainbow in the water as they ripple around his feet. But most of all, Benjamin loves thunder. To him, thunder, piyêsiwak and sounds like his grandfather’s drum. It calls to him, like the songs his grandfather plays while his father and other powwow dancers spin and step in time to the drumbeat. As Benjamin hears the thunder rumble overhead, he imagines himself as a powwow dancer. He spins, he taps his feet and he lifts his knees. Faster and faster he twirls, delighted by and filled with the rhythm of piyêsiwak.
The Day Sun Was Stolen
After the creation of the world, only Bear is bothered by the sun’s heat, but his plan to kidnap the sun is thwarted by a young boy named Ts’ina dabju.
Lasting Echoes
Discusses the history of Native Americans, with a sampling of excerpts from their own accounts of their experiences.
When Bear Stole The Chinook
Because the long, hard winter caused scarcity of firewood and food, a poor Indian boy and his animal friends journey to the lodge of the Great Bear to release the chinook.
The White Deer And Other Stories Told By The Lenape
This rich compendium combines Lenape (Delaware) history, an introduction to several storytellers, and storytelling beliefs with a diverse collection of tales. The tales presented here are twentieth-century renderings from many locations, demonstrating the durability of the storytelling traditions.
The Same Sun Was In The Sky
A boy and his grandfather go hiking in the Arizona desert, where they observe the many rock carvings and imagine the lives of the Hohokam people who lived there in ancient times.
Efraín Of The Sonoran Desert: A Lizard’s Life Among The Seri Indians
Famed ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan learns the deeper meanings of ecology from Amalia Astorga, a Seri Indian.
Spider Spins A Story: Fourteen Legends From Native America
Presents tales from various native peoples, including the Kiowa, Zuni, Cherokee, Hopi, Lakota, and Muskogee, all featuring a spider character.