Seeds are for Sharing: Reclaiming Spirit

by Dawn Smoke, Jackie Traverse (Illustrator), Silvaine Zimmermann (Contribution by)

Overview

"Never let anything or anyone stop you from following where your Spirit says it belongs…"

Spirit exists in everything on Mother Earth. If we are open to it, Spirit may guide us through even the darkest of moments, to experience the illumination of healing and connection.

In this innovative blend of poetry and story, Ojibway and Mohawk Elder Dawn Smoke offers readers to share in all that lives in her heart, mind, and soul. With unwavering honesty, Dawn shares her life-story, and her passionate words of protection for Mother Earth and her people, while advocating against the ongoing violence faced by the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island. 

As a young girl confronted with the loneliness, anger and pain of being scooped from her birth family, Dawn courageously discovers her truth and the path towards healing. Reclaiming what was taken is not an easy feat, yet in doing so, Dawn powerfully reminds us of the Spirit in all around us, and the importance of community—of the family and friends that fill up all the empty corners of life.

Medicine Wheel Publishing is committed to sharing diverse voices and perspectives, creating a platform for stories that celebrate Indigenous cultures and inspire understanding and respect among readers of all ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781778540592
Publisher:	Medicine Wheel Publishing
Publication date:	04/29/2025
Pages:	120
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Dawn Smoke is the daughter of an Anishinaabe mother (Ojibway) and Mohawk father. A Survivor of the sixties scoop, Dawn was moved between foster homes until she was adopted at three years old. She has been an artist, sculptor, creator of jewelry, and occasional poet for some 50 years. She has worked in and for the Native Community for most of her life. She was the co-founder of the Native Women’s Resource Center in Toronto and she has served on many Native boards and in Native organizations, including the Toronto Warrior Society and Idle No More projects. Dawn is grateful to have spent her life traveling and adventuring across many territories on Turtle Island. More recently, she has finally returned to her home territory in Alderville, where she lives in Seniors Housing. On the land of her Ancestors, Dawn feels renewed by her Ancestors’ strength. 

​Jacqueline “Jackie” Traverse was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is Ojibway from the Lake St. Martin First Nation. Jackie began drawing as a child and was inspired from a field trip to the Wahsa Gallery when she was 13 years old. It wasn’t until she was 32 years old that she decided to submit a portfolio of her works to the University of Manitoba where she studied Fine Arts and graduated with a diploma in May of 2009. Jackie Traverse is widely known in art communities across Canada. Her paintings, drawings, documentaries, and sculptures speak to the realities of being an Indigenous woman. To Jackie, painting is truly where her heart lies.