Birds of the Far North

Winter on the Tundra can be a cold and lonely place. Luckily for Agataa she has Ananaatiaq to keep her company and a strange, ugly little bird. In Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak’s new story The Most Amazing Bird, illustrated by Andrew Qappik, CM, we head up to the far north and watch the birds throughout the year.

The Most Amazing Bird is a lovely story about the migration of the birds up north. Agataa is curious about the ugly bird that seems to hang around Ananaatiaq all through out the winter. Once the weather warms up and the sun remains in the sky 24 hours per day, she notices all the other birds who return but the ugly bird seems to be missing.

The story is peppered with the Inuktitut language, naming all the birds who return in both Inuktitut and English, sharing the language and the visions of the north with a wide audience.  Books that include Indigenous languages are vital in the preservation and continuation of these languages. For so long the Canadian government, through it’s many racist and harmful policies, has tried to erase these languages. We love to discover new books written with Indigenous languages incorporated throughout as it gives us an opportunity to learn and understand the richness of life on Turtle Island. At times, when reading I struggle with pronunciations but love that I am learning something new and my children are gaining an appreciation for life all over our beautiful country. Books like The Most Amazing Bird, inspire a curiosity to hear the language spoken by Inuit speakers and to learn more about life on the tundra. Publishers who prioritize stories by Indigenous authors and include Indigenous languages in those stories are helping to ensure they will be around for many years to come.