Blue Camas! Blue Camas!

In this beautiful and sorrowful story about colonial contact, Song Sparrow and other birds native to the meadow tell the tale about a young girl and her village that is located on an island in the Pacific Ocean. Every spring, the young girl, along with other women from the village, harvest Blue Camas, or Kwetlal, sacred bulbs that are a central part of their daily food and trade goods. The Song Sparrow begins by describing the beautiful meadow that blooms every spring and the excitement the young girl and her family bring when they present their harvest of the bulbs. Once the Blue Camas are harvested, the young girl shows her little brother how to place the bulbs in a pit and cook them until they are soft and sweet. Once cooked, the bulbs are ready to be eaten and traded. After the harvest, the grass from the harvested area is carefully burned to help the plants grow for the following harvest.

The birds praise the young girl and the inhabitants of her village for how well they take care of the land and how they respect all that is part of nature, from the plants to the insects and other wildlife. But soon after the harvest, a Steller Jay spots a large ship coming to the shore. On that ship is a young boy and his family. The boy is excited by the new land he sees, and his father explains how they will build their new home and their own farm.

The next spring, only the young girl and her brother return to the meadow to harvest what few Blue Camas can be found. They are confused by the fence and settlements that they see in the meadow. Since the settlers’ arrival, many people in the girl’s village have fallen ill, and so no one has been able to harvest anything or help take care of the land, including the bulbs.

The young boy is excited to see another child his age, but, when he tries to talk to her, she does not understand. The boy’s mother offers the girl a basket of parsnips, knowing that her village suffers from illness and death. The woman tries to be kind, but the young girl does not know what to do with the parsnips that are offered as she has never seen them before. The birds are also unfamiliar with the strange root, but they know it could help the girl’s sick mother as there is little food in the village.

When looking back at what is left of the meadow, the girl sees what once was. Her ancestor’s hard work, the field filled with Blue Camas and butterflies, her mother’s laughter as she prepares a feast. Now she is sad, the farms having destroyed what her family has worked so hard for, and not knowing what the future will bring. When the young boy looks at the meadow, he sees hope that more families will make their farms there, bringing new life and friends he can talk to. His family sees the potential of farms and do not necessarily have the same respect for the land or animals that the young girl and her village have. The story ends with more questions than answers. Will the young girl be happy again, tasting her own food and hearing her people’s laughter? Will the young girl and boy see the world the same way? And what will happen to the land?

As history and current times have shown, everything has changed, and Indigenous culture and knowledge has been left out of many narratives regarding colonial settlement. Not only is it so important to understand how the settlers greatly disrupted Indigenous People’s way of life, but it is just as important to have some understanding of the connection that the Indigenous People had (and still have) with the land, as well as noting their traditions and overall culture. Blue Camas! Blue Camas! shows that relationship beautifully. Readers get a small glimpse into the costal way of life before the settlers arrived and the importance that the Blue Camas plant had to them. Having the local birds as the narrators of the story represents the respect for nature and provides another viewpoint on how the landscape and other inhabitants were affected by the arrival of the settlers.

The depiction of the impact that the settlers had on the Indigenous People is powerful and is shown especially in Koski’s illustrations. When the birds are talking about the young girl and the meadow, the pictures are bright and very colourful. When readers see the settlers, the illustrations have more brown and grey undertones, and the land appears dull and sad. This contrast is especially evident when the young girl looks back on her beloved home and what she sees now (farms and fences) versus what the young boy is hopeful for.

In her end note, Danielle S. Marcotte acknowledges that she and her family are still “newcomers”, and that, without the help and knowledge of the Indigenous People, her family would never have made it through the harsh winters living in a different land. She also notes the misguided information many people might have about colonialism and what the best way is to help younger readers understand. Blue Camas! Blue Camas! is her answer, and she does a wonderful job of sharing the truth behind colonialism while sharing the cultural traditions of Indigenous People and their sacred connection and respect of the land that we now call our own.