She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa and lives with her daughters in Minnesota. LOUISE ERDRICH is the author of many critically acclaimed and best-selling books. Age Range: 9 - 12 years, Grade level: 3-7 For as long as Omakayas can remember, she and her family have lived on the land her people call the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. Then one winter night, the satisfying rhythms of their life are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever. Summary: The Birchbark House 'Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847. Every summer they build a new birchbark house every fall they go to ricing camp to harvest and feast they move to the cedar log house before the first snows arrive, and celebrate the end of the long winter at maple sugaring camp. Although the chimookoman (white people) claim more and more of their land, life continues much as it always has. At the very end of the book, Old Tallow tells Omakayas the true story. Omakayas and her family live on the land her people call the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. By turns moving and humorous, this novel is a breathtaking tour de force by a gifted writer. Neewo has died, but Deydey, Yellow Kettle, Angeline, Pinch, and Nokomis are still there. She advocates the promotion of Native literature and helps preserve it in her.

The story of a young Ojibwa girl living on an island in Lake Superior in 1847. The Birchbark House s author is an outstanding woman, writer, and creator of novels featuring Native characters.

The birchbark house story