By Anne Coppell

There are serious stories told in picture books.
Stories of colonisation.
Stories of dispossession.
Stories of abuse of power.
Stories of reclamation.

I attended the recent Indigenous Voices in Children’s Literature summer school, hosted by the University of Waikato’s Picturebook Research Unit. We heard and read many of these stories. We also heard and read stories of joy. Of stories shared by those who have sovereignty over the stories.

Out of all of the dozens of books referenced over the four-day summer school, it is joyous sovereign stories I want to highlight. Stories of Indigenous people, strong in themselves, in their identities, often acknowledging the past and the harm, but living in joy. Many of these are in Indigenous languages, often with an English edition available. In order to make this manageable, I have focused on picture books. But, to be honest, there are so few novels available in non-dominant languages – especially for young adults.

Mokopuna Matatini / The Greatest Haka Festival on Earth

A celebration of Matatini and te Ao Māori (the Māori world). There is a line in the te reo Pakeha (English) edition that is not in the te reo Maori one: It makes me proud to be Māori. 

Pania Tahau-Hodges (Ngāti Tūwharetoa/Ngāti Tūtemohuta, Tūhoe) is a Director at Huia Publishers. Story Hemi-Morehouse (Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Toa Rangatira) is an illustrator who divides her time between Whanganui-a-tara (Wellington) and Yugumbeh Country (Gold Coast, Australia). 

Hineraukatauri me te ara pūoro

In te reo Māori, this story is deeply embedded within te ao Māori (the Māori world) and mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). The book contains QR codes, which lead to recordings. 

Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa o Wanganui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is a taonga puoro (traditional Māori musical instruments) practitioner researching the ways that puoro can be used as rongoā (medicine). Rehua Wilson (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa) is an illustrator, storyteller, and art director.

Y Ddinas Uchel / The Builders 

At the summer school, we all fell in love with Petra and her dreams. A Welsh story about looking up – being different – and experiencing the world, not just living in it. 

A Day with Yayah 

Language reclamation through sharing of traditional knowledge of the uses and names of plants. 

Nicola Campbell is Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx (Interior Salish) and Métis from the Nicola Valley, British Columbia, Canada. Julie Flett is a Cree–Métis author, illustrator, and artist. 

Being Home

A joyous return to Home, through the point of a view of a child. This book works against the stereotype of ‘Rez’ life as sub-standard and lacking. It also is an antidote, a reversal, of the times First Nations citizens were forcibly moved. 

Traci Sorrell is a Cherokee Nation citizen who lives within her tribe’s reservation in northeastern Oklahoma. Michaela Goade is a member of the Tlingit Nation and grew up in her ancestral homelands along the southeast coast of Alaska.

Going Down Home with Daddy

Family reunions are a massive and important aspect of African-American culture, and this book commemorates this. Told through the point of view of a young boy, the book is a colourful celebration of family, history, heritage, and land. 

Kelly Starling Lyons is an author, artist, and diverse books advocate. Daniel Minter is an African-American artist and educator.

Stronger Than

There is joy in this picture book – even though it may not seem like it. Dante struggles with nightmares, and his mother sets him the task of finding out his family history – from both sides: African-American and First Nations. The knowledge helps him discover love and strength.

Nikki Grimes is an African-American poet and author. Stacy Wells is a member of the Choctaw Nation, and a children’s librarian. E. B. Lewis is an African-American and Lenni Lenape artist and illustrator.

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About Anne Coppell

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