Nanabosho, Soaring Eagle and the Great Sturgeon

Kelly L. Green is co-author of The Ethical Shopper’s Guide to Canadian
Supermarket Products and associate editor of the Canadian Book Review
Annual.

This uneven picture book tells two stories. A young Native girl goes ice
fishing with her grandfather, while her brother stays home and helps
with the laundry. As they drive to the fishing hole, the girl and her
cousin excitedly plan how many fish they will catch, and the grandfather
tells the story of Soaring Eagle, who is tricked by Nanabosho and loses
his family’s catch of fish for the winter. Sympathetic spirits help
Soaring Eagle find more food, but he almost loses his son to the Great
Sturgeon when he greedily takes more fish than the family needs.

This book would be far stronger without the distracting story of Billy
doing the laundry interspersed in the legend of Nanabosho and Soaring
Eagle. Both the mixed-media, primitive-style illustrations and the
language are strongest in the middle of the book, which concentrates on
the Soaring Eagle legend. Some of the illustrations are powerful and
moving. The irritatingly didactic tone of the modern story grates on the
reader, however, as does the ungrammatical note on sturgeon and the
(again) didactic comment from the Manitoba Department of Natural
Resources at the back of the book.

Inexpensively produced in softcover, Nanabosho, Soaring Eagle and the
Great Sturgeon is worthy of consideration for those interested in Native
legends, although better examples of this genre are available.
Recommended with reservations.