ndigenous artist and OCAD U alumna Chief Lady Bird has illustrated a new children's book, Nibi's Water Song, about the importance of clean water. Chief Lady Bird completed her BFA in Drawing and Painting with a minor in Indigenous Visual Culture at OCAD University in 2015. Written by Sunshine Tenasco, the founder of Her Braids, an organization committed to advocating for clean drinking water in Indigenous communities, the book will be published by Scholastic Books in July 2019.
Chief Lady Bird (left) and Sunshine Tenaso (right). Courtesy: Scholastic Books
Nibi is the Anishinaabemowin word for water. In Nibi's Water Song, an Indigenous girl named Nibi can't find clean water to drink. In the book, with no luck from her tap, or the nearby river, Nibi heads to the next town and starts knocking on doors looking for a safe source of drinking water.
Chief Lady Bird is Chippewa and Potawatomi from Rama and Moose Deer Point First Nations. Her Anishinaabe name is Ogimaakwebnes, which means Chief Lady Bird. A CBC interview with Chief Lady Bird and Sunshine Tenasco is available online.
