A Virtual Event for the Sk'ad'a Stories Series
HighWater Press, with Iron Dog Books, invites you to the celebration of
Dancing With Our Ancestors
and
Returning to the Yakoun River
About this event
Celebrate the release of these new books with authors Sara Florence Davidson and Robert Davidson alongside series illustrator Janine Gibbons
Hosted by award-winning author Richard Van Camp
Thursday, September 22
4:00PM PT/7:00 PM ET
Register for the free virtual event here
About the books
Dancing With Our Ancestors
In this tender picture book, Sara Florence Davidson transports readers to the excitement of a potlatch in Hydaburg, Alaska—her last memory of dancing with her late brother.
Returning to the Yakoun River
Based on author Sara Florence Davidson’s childhood memories, this illustrated story captures the joy and adventure of a Haida fish camp.
About the host
Richard Van Camp (he/him/his) is a proud member of the Tlicho Nation from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. He is the author of more than 25 books including The Lesser Blessed (also a feature film), the Eisner Award–nominated graphic novel A Blanket of Butterflies (with Scott B. Henderson), and Three Feathers (also a feature film). He is a contributor to the groundbreaking graphic novel anthology This Place: 150 Years Retold. Richard is also the author of five collections of short stories, including Night Moves, and six baby books, including the award-winning Little You (with Julie Flett).
About the authors
Sara Florence Davidson (she/her) is a Haida/Settler Assistant Professor in Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Previously, she was an educator working with adolescents in the K-12 system in British Columbia and Yukon Territory. Sara is the co-author of Potlatch as Pedagogy: Learning through Ceremony, which she wrote with her father, and Magical Beings of Haida Gwaii, which she wrote with her stepmother, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson.
Robert Davidson is one of the most respected and important contemporary artists in Canada. A Northwest Coast native of Haida descent, he is a master carver of totem poles and masks and works in a variety of other media as a printmaker, painter, and jeweller. A leading figure in the renaissance of Haida art and culture, Robert is best known as an impeccable craftsman whose creative and personal interpretation of traditional Haida form is unparalleled. He has also been recognized with many awards, including being named an Officer to the Order of Canada.
About the illustrator
Janine Gibbons, a Haida Raven of the Double-Fin Killer Whale Clan, Brown Bear House, is a multi-disciplinary artist and award-winning illustrator. Janine’s works are inspired by the waters and lands of the Pacific Northwest, and their myriad colours, energies, and languages. Janine graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle and Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Janine has illustrated four books in the Sealaska Heritage’s Baby Raven Reads series, including Raven Makes the Aleutians, an AIYLA Honor Book, and most recently Nang Jáadaa Sg̱áana ‘Láanaa aa Isdáayaan (The Woman Carried Away by Killer Whales), which is entirely in the Haida language Xaad Kíl.
Other books in the series
Jigging for Halibut With Tsinii
Learning to Carve Argillite
Teacher Guide for the Sk'ad'a Stories Series
