There is an Ojibwe legend of an endless Winter. There was a man who captured all of the Summer birds - the warblers, doves, finches, woodpeckers, and sparrows - and imprisoning them. As the year cycled around and the time came for the sun to warm the frozen ground, and for green things to grow, and the air to fill with the wings of birds and insects, all was still and cold in the land. Winter held sway through the spring and the Summer because the birds were not able to bring the warm growing season

As the people and animals shivered, and food grew sparse, they held council and it was decided that the Fisher would set forth to find what was causing the unending Winter, and to bring the Summer birds back. After a long journey, Fisher arrived at the man‘s stronghold, and found it guarded by crows. He sealed the crows‘ beaks shut with a bit of wax that was the only item he had taken with him on his journey, so that they could cry no warning, and then he found all the cages, which he tore open with his teeth. The birds lifted their wings and emerged, and one by one soared away. In their wake, the air warmed, and the land thawed, and Spring and Summer returned in a rush to bathe the land in growth and awakening.

The warmth melted the wax on the beaks of the crows, and they cried out, jolting their captor. In his escape, Fisher lept into the air, flying high into the sky. To this day he can be seen in the stars as the Big Dipper, with his crooked tail where the man‘s arrow wounded him.

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Size: 7 x 7 inches
Medium: Ink
©2022, Stephanie Law
Original: Sold