Anishinaabe artist work to be featured on soon-to-be-released coming-of-age story

By Colin Graf

CHIPPEWAS OF KETTLE & STONY POINT FIRST NATION— The artwork of acclaimed artist Moses Lunham will be featured for the first time on a book cover to be published across Turtle Island. The book, The Firekeeper’s Daughter, by American Anishinaabe author Angeline Boulley, is a coming-of-age story of 18-year-old Daunis, who witnesses the murder of a loved one, and must use her knowledge of science and her Anishinaabe culture to protect her community.

The cover features elements of the Woodland School of Anishinaabe art, created by famed artist Norval Morrisseau, adapted and re-imagined by Lunham. The commission from the US publishing house Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group arrived for him at a fortuitous time, just as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) pandemic settled across the continent and his usual round of school presentations and workshops were all cancelled.

“I was feeling uncertain of what the future might be,” Lunham tells Anishinabek News.  “A lot of artists were in the same boat. I was very happy to receive that e-mail. It really helped make up for all the work I had lost.”

His first step was to read the book, helping fuel Lunham’s inspiration. The young adult novel tells the story of how valedictorian Daunis spends the summer after high school preparing to stay home to care for her emotionally fragile mother after back-to-back family tragedies instead of going to university. The book, which attracted 12 bids from publishing companies according to the trade website Publishers’ Weekly, is “a wonderful read,” says Lunham.

“Angeline has created, her words have painted, beautiful pictures from which to draw,” he says; a compliment returned by the author.

Speaking during a recent online event celebrating the release of the book cover, Boulley said she told her publisher she wanted a First Nations artist, preferably Ojibwe, for the jacket. She said Lunham’s cover art is “beautiful and vibrant,” and praised the artist and Macmillan Senior Creative Director Rich Deas for “a phenomenal job.”

“I can think of no higher compliment than to say it feels purely ‘Nish.’”

Described on Boulley’s website as “an Indigenous Veronica Mars,” after witnessing the murder, “Daunis reluctantly becomes part of an investigation into a series of drug-related deaths. Her desire to protect loved ones means pushing away the very people who could be her best resources.” Boulley, Anishinaabe from northern Michigan, has served as Director for the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education and has also worked in education at the tribal and state levels.

Since the Woodland style is a story-telling art form, Lunham says it is well-suited to book covers. The images on the cover originate from the fire and the smoke that rises from it, he explains. With the protagonist’s last name being Firekeeper, it made perfect sense to start with a Sacred Fire, Lunham says.  From out of smoke come the bear, Daunis’ clan dodem, and the raven, the message-bearer who plays an important role in leading her “in the right direction,” the artist adds. The two animals “morph” into the butterfly, the main image and a symbol Lunham wanted to include as representing the young Daunis leaving childhood and emerging into adult life.

The process of creating the cover was not new to Lunham, but actually took him back to his time in the graphic design program at Fanshawe College in London, Ont.

“Having that dream that maybe one day my work could be featured on a book that could go national,” he recalls.

Earlier in his career, Lunham also worked creating art for a publishing company funded by the Union of Ontario Indians, now the Anishinabek Nation. After spending over 10 years working in graphic design, Lunham started creating his own original works and today, he creates artworks, exhibits, and teaches based at his home in Kettle Point.

A book cover is a very important part of publishing, and even though people say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, referring to human relationships, “it’s kind of funny” because, in reality, everyone does exactly that,” the artist says with a chuckle.

In working with Deas at Macmillan, there was “a lot of to-and-fro”, with “many voices involved in creating what they would like to see,” but the work proved very rewarding in the end, Lunham says.

“Going in, I knew this was going to be something people had never seen before on a mass scale,” Lunham explains when it comes to Anishinabe art. “This is going to be in places where people have never seen this type of artwork before.”

Both artist and art director agreed on a set of concepts for the cover, then both sketched ideas to show to the other. Lunham equates it to the writing process of multiple drafts and revisions an author and editor go through together.

Deas says he and Lunham “went back and forth quite a bit trying to find something that felt true” to the author’s voice, culture, and the young adult thriller genre. It was “definitely a challenge for a book cover,” but “ultimately, Moses and I fed off each other’s’ thoughts, concepts and sketches,” and produced a “totally unique and beautiful” cover.

The Firekeeper’s Daughter was “a momentous and unique acquisition” for Macmillan, Deas says.

“We knew from the start that the cover had to be equally as special and completely original. We knew this would be a pretty intensive and experimental process.”

While reading the manuscript, Deas says he started researching Anishinaabe artwork, and after internal discussions, the head of the publishing firm “pushed for the authentic style and look of the Anishinaabe culture; something that would be completely different to the mainstream marketplace,” for the cover, he describes.

Deas says he did not have much prior knowledge of First Nations’ art but “became a bit obsessive learning about and appreciating” Anishinaabe art.

“I reviewed endless images and read about the different artists and became a huge fan of Woodland Art,” he adds.

After narrowing the field of potential artists, Deas reached out to Lunham and their first conversation convinced him he had picked well, “given his (Lunham’s) genuine enthusiasm for Woodland Art and as someone who educates others about the culture.”

As for the artist, he has hopes of his own in connection with children’s literature. Having made important contacts in the publishing world, Lunham says he would like to create more book covers and already has one offer. Also on his mind is a more personal project, writing and illustrating his own children’s book.

“That’s another dream; there are stories I would like to share.”

The Firekeeper’s Daughter will be published in March 2021.