We are all connected to one another and to Mother Earth, Julie Buchholtz says. It is a philosophy she lives as part of her indigenous roots and that she brings to her children’s books, Mama’s Song and Who Am I? Buchholtz lives on the shores of Lake Superior and is a proud member of the Bay Mills Tribe of Chippewa Indians. She will soon be bringing her books for a reading and a children’s activity at the Oshtemo branch of Kalamazoo Public Library.
“Ishpiming Migizi Kwe is High Flying Eagle Woman,” Buchholtz says. It was the name she received in her naming ceremony, part of her indigenous culture. Exploring her own heritage, Buchholtz decided to write children’s books introducing indigenous children to theirs.
Representation, she says, “is really, really important for all children. To see themselves in the stories that they read, so that they see themselves represented. There’s a lot of power in that. When children see themselves, it validates their identity and their self-worth. As a former teacher, it also boosts student engagement.”
In her children’s books, Buchholz introduces the teachings of the Seven Grandfathers—Wisdom, Love, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Humility, and Truth—in Mama’s Song, and answers a child’s questions about identity with metaphors about one’s connection to the Earth in Who Am I?
“It is a story about connection: to one another and to Mother Earth,” Buchholtz writes. “In it, a little, brown-skinned girl asks her mama a question we all carry within us: Who am I? Her mama gently pulls her close and explains how she is connected to all of creation—the plants, the animals, and the living world around her. In the end, the girl comes to understand her own significance and realizes she is not so little after all. My second book, Mama’s Song, serves as a prequel to Who Am I? and led me further along the path of embracing my Indigenous heritage.”
Buchholtz will be reading at the Oshtemo Public Library, 7265 W. Main Street in Kalamazoo, on Monday, November 16, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The reading will include children’s activities. A library card is not required to attend.
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