Baby Raven Reads Board Books

Sealaska Heritage continues to publish beautifully crafted books in Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Haida, the Native languages of Southeast Alaska. Three titles from 2019 provide engaging material for children under five and their families to learn about these languages and the cultures they express in that sturdiest of form, the board book.

Xanggáay: Learn the Colors in Xaad Kíl introduces readers to the Haida words for basic colors using examples from nature that children in Southeast Alaska will be familiar with: plants, animals, and the sun. Many of the illustrations, which were created by David Lang, employ a traditional formline style. The colors are vibrant and engaging. Words are presented first in Xaad Kíl, with English below. Skíl Jáadei (Linda Schrak) and K’uyáang (Benjamin Young) chose the words for the very simple text.

From the Sealaska Heritage website, a link to pronunciation can be heard here.

Xanggáay: Learn the Colors in Xaad Kíl

Similarly, Wilgyigyet: Learn the Colors in Sm’algyax, uses the same format and illustrations by Lang to present the Tsimshian words for colors. In this case, the Haayk Foundation contributed the text. The link to pronunciation is here.

Wilgyigyet: Learn the Colors in Sm’algyax

Cradle Songs of Southeast Alaska, illustrated by Crystal Kaakeeyáa Worl, is a more complex book. Not only is it tri-lingual, with three lullabies each in Lingit (Tlingit), Xaad Kíl (Haida), and Sm’algyax (Tsimshian), it includes English translations for each and comes with a CD. Some songs have been passed down from elders, some were adapted from older texts, and some are new creations.

Cradle Songs of Southeast Alaska

The artwork in Cradle Songs, while still appropriate for a board book’s young audience, is more complex. The style combines traditional and modern elements to compliment the snippets of story in each song. I particularly enjoy the illustration of a young girl, drawn in formline style, “packing something up the hill” — an armful of books!

I love the work that Sealaska Heritage is doing to create beautiful, engaging, and useful books that authentically represent Southeast Alaska Native cultures and promote these living languages. These and other books can be purchased from the Sealaska Heritage website, which contains an array of language materials in Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Haida.

Baby Raven Reads

I’m thrilled to see Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) filling a much-needed gap in Alaskan children’s literature with their well-designed, age-appropriate, culturally accurate picture books for kids.

Baby Raven Reads is a program implemented by Sealaska Heritage, a regional Native nonprofit corporation, through grant funding from the US Department of Education’s Alaska Native Education Program. Their goal is to promote “love of learning through culture and community.” Baby Raven Reads includes family events for young children, as well as the creation of an exemplary collection of picture books centered around Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures in Southeast Alaska. In 2017 the Library of Congress recognized Baby Raven Reads as a “Best Practice Honoree” with their Literacy Award.

Their Raven series includes three stories adapted from the scholarly works of Nora and Richard Dauenhauer, who devoted much of their careers to transcribing oral accounts by Tlingit Elders. Raven and the Tide Lady, beautifully illustrated by Tlingit artist Michaela Goade (Tlingit name Sheit.een), was published in 2018. 

Raven and the Tide Lady,
illustrated by Michaela Goade.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

In the story, Raven forces the Tide Lady to allow low tides so animals and people can harvest food from the ocean.

The Tide Lady refuses Raven's approach.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

In Raven Makes the Aleutians, illustrated by Haida artist Janine Gibbons and published in 2018, a great flood leaves Raven exhausted from searching for land. 

Raven Makes the Aleutians,
illustrated by Janine Gibbons.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

Raven solicits the help of a sea otter to create the Aleutian Islands, thus providing Raven a place to rest as he flies back toward the mainland. The islands remain today as the homeland of the Unangan and Alutiiq people. Gibbons' bold illustrations emphasize the contrast between sea, land, and sky.

Raven tosses pebbles into the sea.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

In a third story, Raven Loses His Nose, published in 2018 and illustrated by Tsimshian artist David Lang, Raven’s legendary greed gets him into trouble, causing him to lose his nose.

Raven loses his Nose,
illustrated by David Lang.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

A selection of additional titles includes:

How Devil’s Club Came to Be by Miranda Rose Kaagwéil Worl, illustrated by Tlingit artist Michaela Goade, published in 2017. This original story is inspired by oral tradition but is not a traditional Tlingit tale. 

How Devil's Club Came to Be,
illustrated by Michaela Goade.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

In it, Raven’s niece sets out on a hero’s journey to save her village from a terrible illness. The illustrations are striking and evocative.

Raven's niece on her journey.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

The Woman Who Married the Bear, adapted by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse, was published in 2017 and illustrated by Haida artist Janine Gibbons.

The Woman Who Married the Bear,
illustrated by Janine Gibbons.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

Presented as a story-within-a-story, this Tlingit teaching tale cautions children to respect the bears and not to go into the forest by themselves at the berry-picking time of year.

The woman and the bear walk into the forest.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

Shanyaak’utlaax — Salmon Boy, published in 2017, is bilingual throughout in Tlingit and English. Illustrated by Tlingit artist Michaela Goade, it was adapted from oral tradition and edited by Johnny Marks, Hans Chester, David Katzeek, Nora Dauenhauer, and Richard Dauenhauer. A preface explains that this is a Kiks.ádi story, with variant versions owned by other Raven Clans. In this tale a boy is captured by the Salmon People for disrespecting the food they provide.

Shanyaak'utlaax -- Salmon Boy,
illustrated by Michaela Goade.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

He becomes a salmon, eventually returning to his home and family when the salmon migrate from the sea. His story illustrates the need for humans to respect and understand the relationship between humans and their environment.

Salmon Boy returns to his mother.
Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

Shanyaak’utlaax — Salmon Boy received the American Indian Youth Literature Award for Best Picture Book in 2018.

The books include information about SHI and Baby Raven Reads, as well as notes about story sources. The Raven books include a foreword “Raven the Trickster” by Rosita Kaaháni Worl, Ph. D., President of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

With their rich cultural context, age-appropriate storytelling, quality artwork, and attractive design, the books are a gift not only to Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian children, but to all of us.

A complete list of Sealaska Heritage Institute books is here. All images are used with permission of Sealaska Heritage Institute.