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"Our lives are shaped by stories," writes Barry Lopez. The 17 legends and family stories embedded in The Storykeeper of Chequamegon offer deeper insights for an Anishinaabe family, living on the western shore of Lake Superior in the 1790s. The novel, based on real people, and told in chapters of moons, is seen through the eyes of the daughter of Chief Waubojeeg, a noted storekeeper. Oshauguscodaywayquay listens to the legends and learns to tell them. Life for the Anishinaabe is changing. The animals, hunted for their skins and for food, are disappearing from the forests. There is death and starvation. Despite the hardships, the young girl believes she and her family will always follow the seasons as trees bend in the wind. She turns to the stories for strength and guidance when a young Irish fur trader arrives at Chequamegon Bay, seeking his fortune. |
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Jean Day Alexander is an oral storyteller and was a school librarian in Washington, D.C. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a major in Speech and Drama. While researching at the Library of Congress, she found Oshauguscodaywayquay's oral stories that had been translated and written down by one of her daughters. She then searched for the storekeeper's childhood home: Chequamegon Bay. It was a place dear to her, too. Her maternal grandparents had lived on its shores. While writing the book, the author imagined the shadows of the storytellers moving through the forest. In the voice of the wind through the pines, she heard the stories that belonged to Chequamegon Bay and to the original tellers. |