Description
Bomgiizhik Isaac Murdoch is from the Fish Clan and is from Serpent River First Nation. He is the author and illustrator of The Trail of Nenaboozhoo (Kegedonce Press, 2019, some illustrations by Christi Belcourt). He grew up in the traditional setting of hunting, fishing and trapping. Many of these years were spent learning from Elders in the northern regions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Bomgiizhik is well respected as a storyteller and traditional knowledge holder. For many years he has led various workshops and cultural camps that focuses on the transfer of knowledge to youth. Other areas of expertise include: traditional Ojibwe paint, imagery/symbolism, harvesting, medicine walks, and ceremonial knowledge, cultural camps, Anishinaabek oral history, birch bark canoe making, birch bark scrolls, Youth and Elders workshops, etc. He has committed his life to the preservation of Anishinaabe cultural practices and has spent years learning directly from Elders.
The Power of the Little People is an evocative collection of stories about the Maymaygwesiwok, the little people of Anishinaabe culture. Encounters with Maymaygwesiwok are sometimes beneficial, sometimes less so, yet they are always instructive, for the little people are guardians of the earth and of tradition. Their knowledge of medicine and ceremony is profound, and from them all humans can learn to live in agreement with the world.
These ancient stories, originating on the north shore of Lake Huron, were transcribed from Bomgiizhik Isaac Murdoch’s own storytelling. They possess an immediacy and relevance that is timeless. They will weave you in and out of the Anishinaabe sacred blanket of knowledge that covers a people who have lived on the lands in harmony since their creation.
These stories are presented both in English and Anishinaabemowin, and as such the text is a significant contribution to Indigenous language revitalization.