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Shannon: An Ojibway Dancer
A twelve-year-old Ojibwa Indian living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, learns about her tribe's traditional costumes from her grandmother and gets ready to dance at a powwow.
Paperback
First published September 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 10, 2019
I love the concept behind this book, and I yearn to see it updated. This was published in 1993, and thus, the pictures look super dated. The content is great, but the pictures are going to keep it from attracting readers today. I'm pretty sure I owned the same yellow scrunchie that Shannon is wearing when I was twelve, so I'm cool with it, but I'm old. :)
April 16, 2011
This is one of the books in the series “We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today.” The books focus either on a tribe activity or an individual tribe member; this book is an example of the latter type of subject matter.
Shannon is 13 and lives in Minneapolis but she belongs to the Mille Lacs Reservation, where she has many family members, and she shawl dances in their annual powwow. Shannon is incredibly appealing. She’s a typical teen yet she respects her heritage, and in addition to her excellent dancing, she has the sewing and beading skills to help make and repair her dance outfits. It was fun to follow Shannon through her life, and to meet her friends and family members.
One of her young relatives is a jingle dancer and her grandmother was a jingle dancer (Shannon is a shawl dancer) and so I was reminded of the wonderful fiction picture book Jingle Dancer as I read this one.
I appreciate how the creators of these series books not only at Native Americans, but most are also from the area of the featured people/activities/places in the books, and this book did not depart from that.
I loved Shannon and I tend to love photojournalism books, but while I did enjoy this book, and it did hold my interest, I wasn’t wowed. (I yearned to rate it higher, but just couldn’t quite do it, even though I’m sure many other readers will love it.) The passing on of tradition, and the young people’s embracing of that, is heartwarming. Shannon goes to an immersion language school that offers French and Native American languages. Oh, so cool!
I think girls (ages 7-13?) who like to dance, like clothes, like making beadwork and other crafts, and who are interested in the lives of other young people will enjoy this book.
All the photos are wonderful, of the people, the dancing, costumes, and scenes from daily life and a powwow. There is a map of Minnesota that shows the locations of Minneapolis and Mille Lacs reservation and six other Ojibway reservations.
Shannon is 13 and lives in Minneapolis but she belongs to the Mille Lacs Reservation, where she has many family members, and she shawl dances in their annual powwow. Shannon is incredibly appealing. She’s a typical teen yet she respects her heritage, and in addition to her excellent dancing, she has the sewing and beading skills to help make and repair her dance outfits. It was fun to follow Shannon through her life, and to meet her friends and family members.
One of her young relatives is a jingle dancer and her grandmother was a jingle dancer (Shannon is a shawl dancer) and so I was reminded of the wonderful fiction picture book Jingle Dancer as I read this one.
I appreciate how the creators of these series books not only at Native Americans, but most are also from the area of the featured people/activities/places in the books, and this book did not depart from that.
I loved Shannon and I tend to love photojournalism books, but while I did enjoy this book, and it did hold my interest, I wasn’t wowed. (I yearned to rate it higher, but just couldn’t quite do it, even though I’m sure many other readers will love it.) The passing on of tradition, and the young people’s embracing of that, is heartwarming. Shannon goes to an immersion language school that offers French and Native American languages. Oh, so cool!
I think girls (ages 7-13?) who like to dance, like clothes, like making beadwork and other crafts, and who are interested in the lives of other young people will enjoy this book.
All the photos are wonderful, of the people, the dancing, costumes, and scenes from daily life and a powwow. There is a map of Minnesota that shows the locations of Minneapolis and Mille Lacs reservation and six other Ojibway reservations.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews