HOW I WRITE THE POTAWATOMI FABLES:

My stories are written and illustrated using a computer instead of real paper and pencil and paints and brushes. Since all of my stories were born on the computer they feel right at home on the Internet.  Before I write a new story I think about it for several days. It may be a story I tell to my granddaughter, Shuly, then I think of drawing the cover. The cover gives me the idea for the rest of the story. My stories are not a true history of the Potawatomi Indians but they do teach some of the culture and language by using Potawatomi Children as the heroines and heroes of the stories. As an artist I think first of the picture then of the story. Usually the entire text of a story fits on a single typed page. This represents quite a lot since my books have an illustration on every page.

 For Jomin Lightfoot I drew a cover of Jomin hovering above the ground.

As children often wish they could fly, or lift up like magic I thought it would be good for Jomin to try to walk without touching the ground. After writing the story about Jomin being able to walk without tracks and being named Jomin Lightfoot I started drawing pictures which would show the story.

When I worked on MKO VALLEY I started with these pictures:

Here are some pictures I did while working on The Potawatomi Princess:

Once I did some special work in the workshop. I received some American Bald Eagle wing feathers from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The US Government realizes the special place Eagles have in Indian beliefs, so only Indians may keep Eagle Feathers. I made an eagle feather prayer fan using the left wing feathers. I had to do a lot of planning and thought to get this prayer fan done right. The feathers were not permanently attached because feathers should remain free, so I used a method of binding which holds the feathers but does not keep them from being removed again if necessary. Here is what the finished fan looks like:

 

HIDDEN FEATURE: I used a special drawing program to draw BROKEN WORDS. On page 20 Winnie holds a treaty with words much too small to read, but my special program reveals that there really is a written treaty with visible text, when it is magnified.