Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh: This Is How I know
Written by Brittany Luby
Illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley
Translation by Alvin Ted Corbiere and Alan Corbiere
Groundwoods Books © 2021

Recommended by Shamans Directory Members Jay and Sweetie Bird, this beautifully woven story-poem invites readers of all ages into a gentle, living relationship with the natural world.

Written in both Anishinaabemowin and English, this lyrical book follows a child and her grandmother as they move together through the seasons, listening, observing, and delighting in the rhythms of life all around them.

Through warm summer days full of wildflowers, bees and blueberries, then fall, when bears feast before hibernation and forest mushrooms are ripe for harvest. Winter mornings begin in darkness as deer, mice and other animals search for food, while spring brings green shoots poking through melting snow and the chirping of peepers.

Brittany Luby and Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley have created a book inspired by childhood memories of time spent with Elders, observing and living in relationship with the natural world in the place they call home ― the northern reaches of Anishinaabewaking, around the Great Lakes.

Whether shared between generations or explored quietly on one’s own, this book offers a simple and profound return to what is already here: the beauty of the seasons, the wisdom of the land, and the joy of being in relationship with all that is. For more language learning fun, look up "Ojibwe Word of the Day" in your favorite search engine.

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