Iroquois Fires + All that once was will begin again Book Bundle
Purchase both titles and receive a free copy of Nanna Bijou, the sleeping giant!
Nanna Bijou
The Sleeping Giant
Jocelyn Villeneuve
Illustrations by Luc Robert
4 X 7 inches, 48 pages
NOWADAYS, IN A PANORAMIC VIEW NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN, one can see the gigantic figure of Nanna Bijou, a great land formation outlined in the bay of Lake Superior. An enormous giant asleep opposite the city of Thunder Bay in Ontario, he is named The Sleeping Giant. Situated at the south western tip of the vast Sibley peninsula, its rocky peaks, the highest of which boasts fourteen hundred feet elevation above sea level, inherited the names of his head, his chest and his Adam's Apple. The abrupt sides of the long promontory, the Nanna Steps, are likewise named in his honour.
So popular it has been reprinted several times, Nanna Bijou: the Legend of the Sleeping Giant prompted the reviewer for the Toronto Globe and Mail to write that it was a "delightful book and illustrations by Luc Robert capture the magic of the legend perfectly. The clearness of the prose and simplicity of the story make the book ideal material for reading out loud to children."
Jocelyne Villeneuve
(1941-1998)
Author
Perhaps better known for her writing of French-language stories, poetry and journalism, Jocelyne Villeneuve was nonetheless no stranger to publishing in English. She lived in Sudbury, where she was a champion of Franco-Ontarian culture. Wheel-chair confined as a result of illness and a car accident in 1967, the former librarian worked for many years as a freelance writer.
Luc Robert
Illustrator
Iroquois Fires
The Six Nations Lyrics and Lore of Dawendine
Dawendine - Bernice Loft Winslow
Preface by George Beaver
Introduction by Robert Stacey,
Bryan Winslow Colwell and Donald Smith
Illustrations by C.W. Jefferys,
William D. Loft and T.W. McLean
6 X 9 inches, 160 pages
40 drawings, 3 b&w reproductions of paintings, and 25 b&w archival photographs
Penumbra Press Poetry Series, No. 40
DAWENDINE IS THE DAUGHTER of a distinguished chief and elder of the Mohawk tribe, William D. Loft. Iroquois Fires includes original poetry, legends, and descriptions of life among the people of the Six Nations Reserve near Brandford, Ontario, where Dawendine (Bernice Loft Winslow) grew up in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Much of this material was handed down to Dawendine (which means "The Dawn") by her grandparents and parents, who encouraged her to make a verbal record of her fast-disappearing heritage and culture.
She began public speaking and then compiling her writing. Many years later after a lucky coincidence and the persistence of Donald B. Smith and Robert Stacey we now have that record, accompanied by the drawings of C.W. Jeffreys as she had hoped. The book is further augmented by photographs from Dawnedine's own collection and from public libraries, archives and museums in Canada and the United States. There are very few Native-written accounts in English from the early twentieth century, and we are very fortunate to have Dawendine's contribution to the now fast-growing body of literature by Canada's First Nations.
These trails were run of old. These
Blood-stained paths o'er all the world
Were trod by others in other years,
Blood and tears and aching hearts have been
The bitter harvest of other wonton, wasteful years.
Oh, infinite blindness of man!
How shall we teach thee the age-old truths,
The uselessness, futilities of wars; that hate,
Greed, and power mis-used can only sear
Not cleanse the hearts of men?
Again we need moccasined Trails of Peace.
Upon the trails again must speed
The runners bearing Wampum White.
Oh De-ga na wi-dah, Hia-wa-tha*
Weave a new Wampum Belt of Peace.
—Wampum White
* Founders of the Great Peace League of the Iroquois
Dawendine (Bernice Loft Winslow)
Author, Storyteller
Following in the footsteps of E. Pauline Johnston, Dawendine pursued a successful public speaking career throughout the 1930s until her marriage in 1937 and settling in the United States with her American-born husband.
While raising her family in Whitman, Massachusetts, near Boston, Bernice Loft Winslow continued to compile her writings, which she hoped would be published by a Canadian firm, with specially commissioned illustrations by her Toronto-based friend, the historical artist and landscape painter C.W. Jeffreys, R.C.A., O.S.A., LL.D. For various reasons, this project did not come to fruition, but after her husband's death in 1962. Dawendine resumed her lecturing, appearing throughout the 1960s in Ontario to speak about her own people and the crucial role they played in the creation of Canada.
The coincidental discovery of two caches of her typescripts and manuscripts by Dr. Donald B. Smith of the University of Calgary and Robert Stacey, the grandson of the artist, has led to the present publication, after so many years, of Iroquois Fires.
All that once was will be again
An Iroquois Story
Alex Mogelon
Illustrations by Ronna Mogelon
6 X 9 inches, 72 pages
B&W illustrations
AN IROQUOIS COMMUNITY BUSILY PREPARES for the long, harsh winter. A young woman, stifled by domestic life, quietly yearns for more. In search of freedom, she flees the longhouse only to encounter a group of enemy warriors planning an attack.
Her brother, Gaheska, a gifted but reckless young man, sets out to warn the hunters of the settlement's dire fate. But his forest journey is soon beset by obstacles both physical and spiritual. Gripped by terrifying, masked visions, the impatient Gaheska discovers that he still has much to learn — about his people, his culture, and himself.
In this book-length adaptation of a traditional Iroquois story, Alex Mogelon skillfully weaves between Iroquois and Western traditions. The result is a tale of self-discovery that re-examines the timeless negotiation between an individual's desires and a community's demands.
Alex Mogelon
Author
Alex Mogelon (1925-2000) was an artist, educator, filmmaker, and author. He wrote widely on subjects such as Native and Folk art, Canadian realism, art technique, Jewish life, and Iroquois culture. He authored over a dozen books including The People of Many Faces, a sustained engagement with the myths, masks, and ceremonies of the Iroquois people. Mogelon was the former national director of the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University and, together with his wife Lila, the creative spirit of Studio Snowdon.
Ronna Mogelon
Illustrator