The Medicine Way / māskīkīy miskanaw (Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak, Book 3)

Written by William Dumas

Illustrated by Rhian Brynjolson

HighWater Press

978-1-77492-174-6

60 pp.

Ages 9–12

September 2026 

 

It's the season of tākwākin, when many birds are flying south, and Ācapi Okimaw and his family are travelling with his brother's family to the heartland to learn from the teachers who live there. There they would  connect with a medicine women and a midwife, they would hunt and fish, and they would learn new stories and songs from their relatives.

Illustration by Rhian Brynjolson from The Medicine Way, written by William Dumas

Ācapi Okimaw has three children, Pīsim, Amō, and Mwakwa, all of whom look forward to the guidance they will receive. This is Mwakwa's story, and he wants to learn what his gifts are. As the community hunts, fishes, and harvests, Mwakwa has new opportunities to learn. He meets a singer, sees his cousin Mikisiw celebrate his First-Take ceremony after hunting, and listens to a stargazer speak of the stars and how they guide. Ultimately, Mwakwa decides to apprentice to the stargazer, and will remain behind to learn from Opimotiho about how their stories and language are linked to the stars.

Illustration by Rhian Brynjolson from The Medicine Way, written by William Dumas

William Dumas's story of The Medicine Way speaks to how everything is medicine. There is medicine food, and medicine tea, medicine talk, and even dogs as medicine people. 

With our words, we give each other medicine. (pg. 13) 

Even as he speaks to medicine being in every facet of life, from a puppy to the stars, in the songs and in the need to follow the sacred laws, Rocky Cree Knowledge Keeper and storyteller William Dumas explains and describes so much of the community's practices. From clothing to dwellings, fishing and hunting tools, medicinal teas, and going to the spirit world, William Dumas gives us a sense of how the Cree are connected to each other, to the natural world, and beyond. Cree vocabulary is highlighted throughout, and a comprehensive "Cree Glossary" is included, adding to the richness of the text and the connection with the people through their language and cultural practices.  

Illustration by Rhian Brynjolson from The Medicine Way, written by William Dumas

The Medicine Way suggests a focus on medicine but when everything is the medicine way, the book becomes a sweeping examination of people and culture. Rhian Brynjolson, who also lives in Manitoba, focuses her art on the people and how they live. Her illustrations are a blend of media, including digital, and emphasizes through shape and colour the organic nature of the interactions, of the significance of the natural world in how the Cree live with purpose and with respect. There is a reverence to William Dumas's words, supported by an extensive list of story contributors, and in Rhian Brynjolson's art that add dignity and gratitude for this culture's essence.

The Medicine Way, and all the books in the Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak series, including its companion book The Gift of the Little People (2022), would be a useful teaching tool. But don't stick it on a shelf to gather dust as a reference book. It is too comprehensive to be ignored. Instead, read it as the story it is, and delve into the teachings and the learning that is presented by recognizing it as medicine in its own way.

 

 

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Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak series and companion book 

Book 1: Pīsim Finds Her Miskanaw (2020)

Book 2: Amō’s Sapotawan (2022)

Book 3: The Medicine Way (2026)

Companion Story: The Gift of the Little People (2022)

 

The Gift of the Little People : A Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak Story

Written by William Dumas

Illustrated by Rhian Brynjolson

HighWater Press

978-1-553799924

48 pp.

Ages 8-12

February 2022

 

While many of us are not fortunate enough to hear a storyteller like William Dumas share the tales of his oral storytelling tradition, illustrated books like The Gift of the Little People are an ideal method for getting those stories told and for providing the visuals that our own experiences might not be able to provide. With words and art together, The Gift of the Little People transports us to the northern Manitoba community of South Indian Lake to see how a legendary people gave the Rocky Cree the medicine they needed for healing.

From The Gift of the Little People by William Dumas, illus. by Rhian Brynjolson

The narrator recalls growing up in remote South Indian Lake and hearing the elders tell stories in the evening. These stories included those of the 3 kinds of little people who were no taller than our knees: those who were static-voiced (mīmīkwīsiwak); those who were troll-like; and those that looked like tiny human beings (apiscithinīwak).

One story he remembers his father telling was of a man named âhâsiw (the Crow) of the Rocky Cree who lived along the Misinippi river (now known as the Churchill River). When there were reports of new people coming into mistiwāsahak (Hudson's Bay) with many new tools and items for trade, a delegation was sent. Upon their return, after numerous favourable trades, a feast was held. But a few days later, several members of that delegation fell ill and then person after person within the band became sick and died. âhâsiw did all he could to heal them but he also prayed for help. And help comes one night in the form of a little man who tells him that the medicine was available but he could only reach it by going through a solid rock face across the lake.

From The Gift of the Little People by William Dumas, illus. by Rhian Brynjolson

Though the task that the little person had given âhâsiw and oskâpêwis (his helper) seemed impossible, it was the means by which the Rocky Cree are able to connect with the little people and help heal themselves.

From The Gift of the Little People by William Dumas, illus. by Rhian Brynjolson

The Gift of the Little People is a companion book to William Dumas's Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak series which explores the language, culture, knowledge, territory, and history of the Rocky Cree (Asiniskaw Īthiniwak) people. The first book in the series Pīsim Finds Her Miskanaw (2020) will be joined by a second, Amō's Sapotawan, later this year. With The Gift of the Little People, author William Dumas shares much about the Rocky Cree from both a historical and spiritual perspective. From life in a remote location without electricity to the devastation of first contact with Europeans, The Gift of the Little People reveals life of the Rocky Cree and the traditions upon which they prevailed. But within that framework, William Dumas tells readers of the little people. Whether it is folklore based in legends or otherwise–there are countless claims of evidence that the little people exist–the folklore of how the little people came to the aid of the Rocky Cree people when illness resulted from first contact with Europeans is a story worth telling. It's about trusting unlikely allies and accepting challenges for good. And with the artwork of Manitoba visual artist and educator Rhian Brynjolson honouring the First Nations with both its realism and style, without misappropriation, The Gift of the Little People has more than one story to tell of the Rocky Cree and their history and culture.

Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak series