Canoe Back in Time

Dorothy Downs spent many years learning how one special Miccosukee girl was given the gift of becoming an artist. This inspiring story tells how the beauties of the Everglades are measured into the sewn bands of colored cloth and patchwork rainbow design that have become world famous.

In the story young Sally Osceola learns how to sew the colors of sky and earth while making a cape and skirt that she will wear to honor Breathmaker at the traditional yearly Green Corn Dance. Even though she was only ten years old in the 1920s, Sally knew she would one day sew a rainbow. Breathmaker told her she would sew like the women of her Panther Clan, and so she did.

Thanks to Dorothy Downs, writer and illustrator, Sally's story is honestly put into words and pictures that beautifully express the heartfelt traditions of the Miccosukee people.

ISBN-13: 9781515439097

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Irie Books

Publication Date: 10-10-2017

Pages: 70

Product Dimensions: 8.00h x 8.00w x 0.31d

Age Range: 6 - 12 Years

Downs, Dorothy: - Dorothy Downs, an art historian and artist, was Curatorial Consultant to the Native American Art Collection at the Lowe Art Museum of the University of Miami. She is the author of Art of the Florida Seminole and Miccosukee Indians, and a book for children, Patchwork: Seminole and Miccosukee Art and Activities. She has written and produced the WLRN PBS television documentary Patterns of Power, about the Seminole and Miccosukee women who sew patchwork designs and fashion. Like Sally Osceola and another Dorothy in Oz, Dorothy Downs appreciates the joyful attraction of rainbows.