THIS LAND IS MY LAND is a book written by George Littlechild, Canadian artist and member of the Plains Cree Nation.  The book presents a series of Littlechild’s art with accompanying explanations and reflections.  The art takes us through histories of the Plains Cree up to the challenge of keeping tradition and hope alive today.

On the dedication page, Littlechild thanks his ancestors “for surviving when so many did not.”  He then has a picture of himself and eleven other relatives spanning five generations.  By picturing them here, he honors them and what they have done for him.  Littlechild’s work is mixed media.  He uses paint, three-dimensional objects such as feathers and buttons, pictures, and other materials.  He uses very bright colors, bold strokes and shapes in his art. 

In the piece “Four Buffalo Spirits”, he speaks of the sanctity of the number four in his work and in Cree tradition. “I painted four buffalo because four is a sacred number…Four is also a healing number.  It appears in all my work.  There are four directions, four seasons, four elements, and four kinds of animals (those who walk, those who fly, those who swim, and those who crawl.)”  Through observations and statements such as these, Littlechild reveals the Cree people’s connection to Nature without sounding overly “mystical.”

In the first piece, “I Love the Moon, the Stars, and the Ancestors”, Littlechild gives some background, thanking the Creator for the ancestors and explaining how the Cree people followed the buffalo.  The accompanying art pictures Chief Joseph Samson with an eagle headdress.  Littlechild has painted bold strokes of color onto some of the feathers.  Also pictured is his great-great-grandfather.  He appears with gold dots, inside of a heart shape, and under an arch.  Large hearts, stars, and moons adorn the painting as well as some actual beadwork.  In this way, Littlechild has brought together elements of the past together with the present.

Littlechild explains that the word “Indian” was imposed by Europeans looking for India, but then uses the term to describe himself and his people.  Towards the middle of the book, he states, “We prefer to be called First Nations or First Peoples, because this was our homeland first.”  However, he then goes back to using the word Indian as the main identifier.

Littlechild goes on to discuss the devastating effects of the boarding schools that his parents and grandparents were forced to attend.  He says that in the absence of their culture, many Indian people, including his own parents, succumbed to forces such as drug abuse and alcoholism.  In “Urban Indian Pain Dance”, he talks about his brother’s green eyes and how they come from mixed heritage.  He talks about how his brother was able to rise above the challenges and succeed in life.  Later, he shares that his art is a way of “healing the pain of the past and helping the next generation of Indian people.”

This book presents a brief history of the Cree people and tells George Littlechild’s personal story.  By examining his work and reading about his life, we can see that the culture of the Cree people is not extinct.  Littlechild says that he is “reviving (our) culture and traditions.  We are very hopeful and the future looks promising.”  After reading this book, you will know that this is true.