Peace Dancer

by Roy Henry Vickers, Robert Budd

Overview

The children of the Tsimshian village of Kitkatla love to play at being hunters, eager for their turn to join the grown-ups. But when they capture and mistreat a crow, the Chief of the Heavens, angered at their disrespect, brings down a powerful storm.

The rain floods the Earth and villagers have no choice but to abandon their homes and flee to their canoes. As the seas rise, the villagers tie themselves to the top of Anchor Mountain, where they pray for days on end and promise to teach their children to value all life. The storm stops and the waters recede. From that point on, the villagers appoint a chief to perform the Peace Dance at every potlatch and, with it, pass on the story of the flood and the importance of respect.

With eighteen new illustrations from Roy Henry Vickers and exceptional narrative, Peace Dancer will delight readers of all ages and add to the collection of global flood stories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781550177398
Publisher:	Harbour Publishing Company, Limited
Publication date:	05/28/2016
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	12.16(w) x 8.58(h) x 0.36(d)
Age Range:	4 - 9 Years

About the Author

Roy Henry Vickers is a renowned carver, painter and printmaker whose Eagle Aerie Gallery in Tofino, BC, has become a provincial landmark. In 1998, Roy was appointed to the Order of British Columbia and in 2006, the Order of Canada. He is the co-author of the immensely popular Northwest Coast Legends series and the author of several books that showcase his art, including Storyteller (Harbour Publishing, 2014). He currently lives in Hazelton, BC.

Robert (Lucky) Budd holds an MA in history and has digitized many high-profile oral history collections including that of the Nisga'a First Nation. As well as co-authoring the Northwest Coast Legends series, he is the author of Voices of British Columbia (Douglas & McIntyre, 2010), a bestseller that was shortlisted for the 2011 Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award, and its sequel, Echoes of British Columbia (Harbour Publishing, 2014). He currently lives in Victoria, BC.

Editorial Reviews

"Parents and teachers will enjoy sharing Peace Dancer with children. It is a fine book, and Harbour Publishing can be proud of their achievement. Highly recommended."
~ Dr. Gregory Bryan, CM Magazine, October 2016 (Peace Dancer received 4 out of 4 stars)

From the Publisher

2016-06-22
A Tsimshian artist links a flood tale from his village to a frequently performed potlatch dance.As in Vickers and Budd's earlier Northwest Coast retelling, Cloudwalker (2014), richly colored woodblock-print illustrations add strong notes of mysticism and ritual to a tersely related episode. After a group of children heedlessly captures a crow and pulls out its feathers, floods cover the land and drive all the people into canoes. Their frantic prayers go unanswered until the Chief of the Heavens, seeing that the birds have no place to alight, restores peace to the land by letting the waters recede. The humbled people rebuild, renew their respect for all life, and commemorate the event forever after with a Peace Dance that is marked by shaking out eagle down for remembrance. The full-page illustrations begin with idyllic scenes of shorelines and boats, all overlaid with ghostly Northwest Coast motifs. Later, more-turbulent views of silhouetted figures amid swirling waves give way to a climactic double-page spread panorama of a restored, sunlit landscape rich in flora and distinctively stylized fauna. The story will likely be new to readers outside the culture; Vickers closes with a note on his own lineage and how he learned both the dance and the tale directly from elders. A rare variant of a nearly universal myth, with powerfully evocative illustrations. (Picture book/folk tale. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews