Long Powwow Nights

by David Bouchard, Pam Aleekuk, Leonard Paul (Illustrator)

The Powwow is a time-honored Native American custom. It is a celebration of life and spirituality, a remembrance of traditions, uniting a people through dance and ritual."Long Powwow Nights" takes you on a wonderful journey, honoring these mystical dancers who keep their traditions alive through dance and song. In its poetic verses, David Bouchard skillfully narrates the story of a mother's dedication to her roots and her efforts to impress upon her child the importance of culture and identity.

Internationally revered Native American artist, Leonard Paul, brings the story alive with his beautiful renditions of powwow dancers, warriors, and stunning landscape.

The book is accompanied by a CD, which includes music by internationally acclaimed singer and songwriter, Buffy Sainte- Marie.

Genres: Indigenous, Picture Books, Music, Poetry, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 14, 2008

About the author

Canadian Métis author and literacy advocate David Bouchard has produced more than fifty books for readers of all ages, including two guides on reading for parents and educators.

An erstwhile teacher and school principal, he is particularly concerned with Aboriginal-related issues and is a sought-after speaker for conference keynotes and school presentations and on topics of reading, literacy and aboriginal well-being.

David Bouchard's books have won numerous awards, including a Special Mention for Non-Fiction in the 2010 Bologna Ragazzi Awards for The Drum Calls Softly, a Gold Medal in the 2008 Moonbeam Award for I am Raven, the 2004 Governor General's Award for The Song Within My Heart, the 1999 Red Cedar Award for The Great Race and the 1997 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for Voices from the Wild. An Aboriginal Carol was included in the 2008 White Ravens Catalogue.

In April 2009, Bouchard was named as a Member of the Order of Canada "for his contributions as an author of children’s books and an advocate who has championed the cause of reading and writing, and who has shared his pride as a member of the Métis community through his stories."

David lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with his wife Vicki and their daughter Victoria.

-taken from the author's website

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long Powwow Nights serves as a simple and beautiful rhyming poem, filled with a range of emotions. Featuring it in both English and Mi'kmaq works wonderfully well, and I think more books should feature indigenous languages as a whole. I especially enjoyed the Mi'kmaq audio reading, although it was a little fast to follow along with (not really much time to turn the pages or look at the pictures). Featuring Buffy Sainte-Marie's track Darling Don't Cry at the end was wonderful (especially as a big fan of her music), and the song goes so well with the story in the book. Leonard Paul's paintings make for a beautiful visual accompaniment.

I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a good picture book, or anyone looking for a dual language resource of English and Mi'kmaq.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Metis children's author David Bouchard, whose previous bi-lingual picture-books include Nokum Is My Teacher and The Drum Calls Softly - both of which feature text and CD narration in English and Cree - here turns his attention to the Mi'kmaq people. Teaming up with co-author Pam Aleekuk, also Metis, Bouchard delivers another poetic meditation on an important aspect of First Nations life: the powwow.

A child remembers her mother in Long Powwow Nights, her joy in fancy-dancing, and the mystery and meaning of the dancers and their traditional regalia: "Meegwetch mystic dancers - dark Ravens you were... / Tricksters - magicians - to most a mere blur / To me you were everything I was to be / Like my loving mother, I longed to be free..." The English narrative is paired with a Mi'kmaq translation, done by Patsy Paul-Martin (which information is only to be found on the colophon), and both versions can be heard on the accompanying CD, which also contains music by singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie.

The beautiful illustrations by Mi'kmaq artist Leonard Paul are immensely striking, and I found the portraits of the woman dancer in profile (the mother, I assume?), particularly lovely. The depictions of the male dancers, in full regalia and facial decoration, have real power - it is easy to see why the narrator would think them tricksters or magicians. All in all, this a very satisfactory book and CD, that should be most welcome to young readers interested in the Mi'kmaq people and language. As someone with an interest in linguistic diversity, I'm really happy to see the proliferation of these bilingual titles. There need to be more of them!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looks like a beautiful book, and is bilingual, but Bouchard is a fraud:

https://blog-woman.com/2018/10/22/alt... (even if he had indigenous blood, he himself admits that he was not raised in Metis culture, and imo that means his drop of blood is completely trivial).

Otoh, Pam Aleekuk is Metis, and Leonard Paul is Mi'kmaq. Buffy Sainte-Marie was born "of Cree parents on the Piapot Reserve near Craven, Saskatchewan. She was orphaned as a baby and adopted by a part-Micmac family who raised her in Massachusetts and Maine." She has sung protest and 'folk' songs in the context of her identity as one of indigenous Canadian heritage for many decades. I immediately recognized the name; I assume due to hearing it in the news when I was a youth during the Vietnam war.

I didn't get a chance to listen to the whole CD (two tracks, story plus songs, about 20 minutes) but what I heard of the song(s?) was appealing.

So, my recommendation of this is nuanced. It's a beautiful and moving book, and I *think* it's a valuable book... but I wouldn't be surprised if some native individuals who were raised with their ancestral traditions felt otherwise.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a Canadian teacher or librarian that would like to integrate more indigenous authors in your classrooms or school libraries, David Bouchard is an author that I would highly recommend. In each of his books, Bouchard works with different nations and artists to bring their language and culture to the reading audience. Long Powwow Nights is told in both English and Mi'kmaq and is also accompanied by an audio cd. The artwork is breathtaking and "tells" its own story.

[Canadian Children's Book Centre]

Reviewed by Mary Anne Cree

Metis author and teacher, David Bouchard, brings us two more collaborative works of art, poetry and music from different First Nations cultures. Red Deer Press has also published Bouchard’s An Aboriginal Carol, The Drum Calls Softly and Nokum is My Teacher. In the latest two, Long Powwow Nights and The Secret of Your Name, Bouchard continues to explore his Native heritage and to convey the beauty and complexity of it to a Native and non-Native audience of both children and adults.

In four-line stanzas, the author remembers his mother and how she danced the traditional dances at the powwow. He speaks of her desire to express herself and give voice to her culture through her dancing: “I remember you mother — still vibrant and young / Dancing beneath the warm prairie sun. / I now know those days were an endless desire / That burned deep within you like the flames of our fire.” She dances for 20 years, passing on to her son her wisdom and the traditions that will be his. When she dies, he remembers her as his teacher and guide through life. Every other page repeats an eight-line refrain. The text is bilingual — in English (or a French edition is also available) and Mi’kmaq.

The art is the real star here — magnificent paintings done by Native artist Leonard Paul in the style of high realism. They are portraits of the dancers in full regalia, occasionally in motion. There is fine detail in the costumes and a pensive look in the faces. The final painting echoes the text, “Meegwetch mystic dancers — dark Ravens you were,” with a dark painting of a giant raven head and dancers by the fire under moonlight.

The book includes a CD with a reading of the story in English by Bouchard and in Mi’kmaq by Patsy Paul-Martin, and includes the song, Darling Don’t Cry, by acclaimed singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Canadian Children's Book News (Fall 2010, Vol. 33, No. 4)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the illustration and the poem
so great to have it bilingual

[Mary Archibald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book in every sense.

[C2015 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried. “Each teardrop that fell was a dream not come come true” Oh my God I so can relate…so we’ll said. Beautiful ❤️

[Karl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bouchard’s Metis heritage has recently come into question. The art in the book is fantastic but the writing, if the allegations are true, makes this cultural appropriation. I’ll update my rating if the story changes to be fair.