A Blanket of Butterflies: The Spirit of Denendeh, Volume 1

Written by Richard Van Camp

Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson

Colours by Donovan Yaciuk

HighWater Press

978-1-77492-040-4

56 pp.

Ages 12 +

2022 

 

When Shinobu arrives in the Northwest Territories to reclaim his family's samurai armour housed at the Fort Smith museum, he learns that the sword has gone AWOL after Benny, the last museum manager, gambled it away. Sonny, a Tłı̨chǫ Dene boy who was at the museum, offers to take Shinobu to Benny's residence, though Sonny warns that the man will undoubtedly be supported by a trio of thugs named Torchy, Sfen and Flinch. 

From A Blanket of Butterflies by Richard Van Camp, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, coloured by Donovan Yaciuk

Not surprising Shinobu is attacked and, though he valiantly defends himself, he is left almost dead. Sonny and some friends take the man to Sonny's grandmother's house. Though Shinobu's extensive tattoos  frighten Sonny's Ehtsi, she tends to his wounds. With Sonny's support for "the butterfly man"–because of his butterfly tats–and a visitation from the spirit of Sonny's sister, Sonny's grandmother wants to know more. Shinobu tells her he is from Nagasaki, Japan and she realizes the connection their people have with the Japanese linked to the atomic bombing of 1945. She relates this in terms of a powerful bird being fed black eggs and "a fire so bright it left only their shadows on what was left of their homes" (pg. 24).

From A Blanket of Butterflies by Richard Van Camp, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, coloured by Donovan Yaciuk

Shinobu tells them the story of the creation of the sword by his 2 times great grandfather and his need to reclaim it before the August full moon. Because that full moon was that very night, the three head out together to Benny's. Again they are set upon but Sonny's grandmother is a formidable woman whose words stop the thugs. And with words and memories, as well as a blanket for Benny, Sonny's Ehtsi finds a connection between the men and the opportunity for benevolence.

From A Blanket of Butterflies by Richard Van Camp, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, coloured by Donovan Yaciuk

Originally published in 2015, A Blanket of Butterflies has been reissued with full colour, additional background information and cultural context. Still the story is fresh as an intersection of two cultures, one Indigenous and the other Japanese, and how they connect both on a historical and a more personal level. Richard Van Camp, Tłı̨chǫ Dene from Fort Smith NWT, has borrowed from his youth a story of an unlikely suit of samurai armour but he has developed it into a far greater story by asking a series of What If? questions. Sadly, how that suit was lost from a Japanese family is undoubtedly tied to the theft and seizure of the possessions of those interned. Still, Richard Van Camp doesn't emphasize that part of the story but rather the connections that both the Indigenous and Japanese communities have experienced through a history of loss and the substance of family. 

There is a darkness to this story because of that history and that loss. And that darkness comes through in Scott B. Henderson's illustrations, expertly coloured by Donovan Yaciuk. The artwork plays up the conflict that converts remarkably to connection both in its action, expression and colour.

The Spirit of Denendeh tells stories of the People of that land and A Blanket of Butterflies gives us glimpses into the natural and supernatural elements of those lives. I suspect that when Volume 2,  As I Enfold You in Petals, releases in April of this year, there will be another story from Denendeh, the Land of the People, again rooted in reality and upholding a legacy of kinship.