Her name is Omakayas, or Little Frog, because her first step
was a hop, and she lives on an island in Lake Superior.It is
1850, and the lives of the Ojibwe have returned to a
familiar rhythm: they build their birchbark houses in the
summer, go to the ricing camps in the fall to harvest and
feast, and move to their cozy cedar log cabins near the town
of LaPointe before the first snows.
The satisfying
routines of Omakayas's days are interrupted by a surprise
visit from a group of desperate and mysterious people. From
them, she learns that all their lives may drastically
change. The chimookomanag, or white people, want Omakayas
and her people to leave their island in Lake Superior and
move farther west. Omakayas realizes that something so
valuable, so important that she never knew she had it in the
first place, is in danger: Her home. Her way of life.
In this captivating sequel to National Book Award nominee
The Birchbark House, Louise Erdrich continues the
story of Omakayas and her family.