LOUISE BRADFORD - Sage and the Snowshoe Express

A side note in a Library and Archives Canada document indicated that her great-great-grandfather Raymond Miron was a snowshoe mail carrier, and this led to author Louise Bradford’s new children’s book Sage and the Snowshoe Express.

A member of Batchewana First Nation in northwest Ont., Bradford admits she didn't understand the extent of her great-great-grandfather’s work and its importance. Research led her to a book about Ojibwe snowshoe mail carrier John Beargrease from Minnesota who did his work on the American side of the same territory.

“I thought of my great-grandmother being a little girl,” said Bradford. “I didn't know much about my great-grandmother. I don't know what kind of adventurous spirit she had but I gave her one in this imagination.”

Sage is forced to accompany her father and Nimoosh on the wintertime trek when her dad drops a parcel. As her father’s motto is “No mail left behind,” Sage has no choice but to swish quickly in her snowshoes to catch up with him. And so begins her adventure which includes Sage having to make use of the ever-present bell that she rings to scare away the wolves. The bell is also used to let villagers know their snowshoe carrier is close by.

The book is peppered with Anishinaabemowin words and includes a glossary. It’s important to keep the language alive, said Bradford, who four years ago began learning Anishinaabemowin in Vancouver where she now lives.

“I fell in love with the language, about how it is so rooted in nature. The importance of nature and the beauty of nature and protecting nature. And everything just made so much sense to me,” said Bradford.

Sage and the Snowshoe Express is illustrated by Maya McKibbin, two-spirited with Irish-settler and Ojibwe roots in White Earth Nation in Minnesota. Bradford says they worked together closely on the book and illustrations provide a nod to Métis and Inuit.

“It is an Anishinaabe story, but it's not just an Anishinaabe story. It's to honour all Indigenous mail carriers,” said Bradford.