Indigenous artist and storyteller Andrea Fritz tells the tale of a Salish woolly dog who goes on an adventure over land and sea to gather natural fibers to keep his human family warm.
Sqwiqwmi' the young Salish woolly dog has a nice warm coat, and he wants to help protect his people from the cold and wet West Coast winters too. He sets out to pick the cozy fluff that grows on the nearby fireweed, but the plants are bare this time of year. Guided by a friendly shrew and a wise eagle, Sqwiqwmi' journeys across the Salish Sea and into high mountains, collecting goat's wool and nettle stalks-and even some of his own fur!-that his family will spin and weave into beautiful, warm blankets.
In this original story set in Coast Salish Traditional Territory, author and artist Andrea Fritz uses Indigenous storytelling techniques and art to share the culture and language of the Hul'q'umi'num'-speaking Peoples.
Key Selling Points
• Sqwiqwmi' the Salish woolly dog helps his human family by gathering natural fibers, such as goat's wool and nettle stalks, that they can spin and weave into blankets. A friendly shrew and wise eagle guide Sqwiqwmi' on his journey.
• The text includes names and words in Hul'q'umi'num', an Indigenous language spoken on and around Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
• The illustrations follow the Coast Salish art tradition of combining four basic shapes in both positive and negative space.
• The book also includes a glossary and pronunciation guide, and an introduction to the now-extinct Salish woolly dog breed and Coast Salish spinning and weaving.
• Author/illustrator Andrea Fritz studied with Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw artist and master carver Victor Newman. She shares Coast Salish stories, both traditional ones learned orally and new ones created from modern experience, with schoolchildren throughout British Columbia.
• This is the fourth and final book in the Coast Salish Tales, following Otter Doesn't Know, Crow Helps a Friend and Raven Gets Tricked.
In this picture book featuring Coast Salish art and Traditional Storytelling techniques, a Salish woolly dog finds natural fibers for his people to spin and weave into blankets.
Andrea Fritz is a Coast Salish artist and storyteller from the Lyackson First Nation of the Hul'q'umi'num'-speaking Peoples on the west coast of Canada. She studied West Coast Native art with Victor Newman, a Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw master artist. Andrea strives to express her People's history and all our futures using her art. She focuses on animals and places of the West Coast and our intricate relationships with them. Andrea works in the mediums of acrylic on canvas and wood, serigraph, vector art and multimedia. She has had numerous gallery shows and participates in community-based art pieces. She is the author and illustrator of the Coast Salish Tales series. Andrea lives in Victoria, British Columbia. The Coast Salish Tales series shares the art, culture and language of the Hul'q'umi'num'-speaking Peoples. Using techniques from Traditional Oral Storytelling, artist and storyteller Andrea Fritz connects young readers to the animals, land and waters of the Coast Salish Traditional Territory. Good friends blanket us in warmth.
