Dancing with our Ancestors & Returning to the Yakoun River
The Sk’ad’a Stories Series is a beautiful collection of picture books sharing author Sara Florence Davidson’s memories of her childhood as well as the memories of her father Robert Davidson. In the last two books of the series, Dancing with our Ancestors and Returning to the Yakoun River, readers learn more about the traditions that are vital to the Haida Peoples of Haida Gwaii. Impeccably illustrated by Janine Gibbons, these stories are treasures that should find their way into classrooms and home libraries.
In Dancing with our Ancestors, Sara Florence Davidson invites readers to a Potlatch ceremony. A ceremony once banned in Canada thanks to colonialism but is now being freely practiced by the people of the Pacific Northwest. This particular ceremony is not for one specific person but a celebration of culture to be held for the public record so that traditions and ceremonies are never threatened again. Through Sara Florence Davidson’s vivid recollections, we join her, her family and the other clans of Haida as they celebrate. Her stories are always verified by her father Robert Davidson, who planned and executed this particular Potlatch ceremony along with this wife. It also celebrates and honours Sara’s brother, Ben Davidson, who sadly passed in 2020. The story feels incredibly intimate. As readers we are invited to the ceremony and can feel the excitement and the joy of ceremony. We are invited to join Sara in one of the last times she dances with her brother, now an ancestor. Readers are so fortunate to learn about the potlatch ceremony through Sara’s beautiful story.
In Returning to the Yakoun River, readers join Sara, Ben and their cousin Leslie as children in the summer as they make their yearly return to their family fishing camp on the Yakoun River. It’s salmon fishing time, an important time for Haida people to restock their food stores before the winter months. Once again, Sara Florence Davidson transports readers to the summers of her childhood. Her writing is inviting and has a powerful quality to take us right to this moment in time. I could taste the sugary cereal in the small boxes and smell the fresh air throughout the story. Although it’s a very personal story, it reminded me of my childhood with my family at many points along the way. There is a beautiful universality to this story and for anyone who has grown up in a rural community or along a body of water, it may feel familiar. It’s a story that shows us the importance of traditions, of family and of community.
Both stories are illustrated by Janine Gibbons and it’s hard to put into words the power of her illustrations. She takes us up close, almost under a microscope through all the stories in the series. Her brushstrokes are at the same time broad and fine. She has the ability to not only draw in readers when they are reading in an intimate setting but also draw us in if the stories were shared with a big group of readers.
If you are a teacher and you are planning to share these stories with your class, be sure to check out the teacher’s guide, carefully prepared by Katya Adamov Ferguson and Sara Florence Davidson.
