Encounter

A powerful imagining by two Native creators of the first encounter between a European explorer and a Native North American that celebrates our ability to acknowledge difference and find common ground.

Meet Fisher. His ancestors have paddled these waters for generations.

Meet Sailor. He has come from far away, to explore lands beyond his own shores.

What will happen when they meet each another?

Based on the real journal kept by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534, ENCOUNTER imagines a first meeting between a French sailor and a Stadaconan fisher. As they navigate their differences with curiosity and openness, the wise animals around them note their similarities, illuminating common ground.

This extraordinary vision by Brittany Luby, Professor of Indigenous History, is paired with art by Michaela Goade, winner of 2018 American Indian Youth Literature Best Picture Book Award. ENCOUNTER is a luminous telling from two Indigenous creators that invites readers to reckon with an uncomfortable past, and to welcome, together, a future that is yet unchartered.

About the Author

Brittany Luby (Anishinaabe-kwe) is the many great-granddaughter of Chief Kawitaskung, a leader who negotiated the North-West Angle Treaty of 1873. With a pen stroke, Kawitaskung agreed to share parts of what is now northwestern Ontario with settlers and their descendants. Because of her many great-grandfather, Brittany believes that words are a powerful tool. Brittany writes for social justice and is an assistant professor of history at Guelph University in Canada.

About the Illustrator

Michaela Goade (Tlingit) is an award-winning designer and illustrator. She has illustrated a number of picture books including Shanyaak'utlaax: Salmon Boy, winner of the 2018 American Indian Youth Literature Best Picture Book Award. She lives in Juneau, Alaska