We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga - Board Book
From the Author's Note:
“Cherokee culture places a strong emphasis on expressing gratitude to unelanvhi (oo-NEH-la-nuh-hee), literally “the one who provides all,” or God. We also show gratitude for one another, animals, birds, plants, fish, the cosmos, water, and land. Cherokee people believe that recognizing and honoring the ways that the sacred and the duties of daily life are interwoven requires effort, ritual, and awareness, but above all, gratitude. I am grateful for the opportunity to provide a contemporary view of Cherokee culture in this book...
Many of us still observe the ancestral and ceremonial ways of life. We also live and work in the modern non-Cherokee world. Cherokee people are citizens of our tribal nation and of the United States. There are many distinct laws and responsibilities applied to us because of that dual status. We work to maintain a balance between these two worlds.
Otsaliheliga for all who came before us, those here now, and those yet to come.”
Author & Illustrator Bio:
Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction for children featuring contemporary characters and compelling biographies. She is the author of We Are Still Here! and At the Mountain's Base and co-author of Indian No More. She is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in northeastern Oklahoma, where her tribe is located.
Frané Lessac is the illustrator of more than forty books for children. She has lived on the small Caribbean island of Montserrat, in London, and in Australia, and her work has taken her on many adventures in numerous countries. www.franelessac.com
