Under my Christmas tree I keep several children's books, some that used to belong to my own girls and some that I bought. One that I especially like is "Christmas Moccasins" by Ray Buckley (who also drew the illustrations), which was published by Abingdon Press in 2003. Buckley, who is Dakota-Tlingit, wrote the book to share with us the value and power of forgiveness, based upon one of his family's stories. Simply told against the backdrop of winter scenery and a small home out in the woods, the atmosphere of a child's wonder and an elder's humble wisdom shines like snow under a silver moon.
The story is about a boy and his grandmother who on one Christmas Eve encountered three drunken men who pushed them down and treated them roughly and disrespectfully (then stole their coats and shoes).
On the walk home they shivered terribly in the dark cold, and the grandmother lost two of her toes to frostbite. That winter without coats and shoes was a very difficult season for them, but more painful than their physical hurt and loss was their sadness of spirit.
The illustrations show a time of sorrow, yet Buckley brings to his drawings a sense of love and tenderness between the two.
As seasons passed and the earth went through its familiar pattern of changes, the boy and grandmother worked at their customary tasks of gathering, preserving and preparing for the winter that would arrive again.
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In this sharing of their time and companionship they began to recover both spiritually and physically. As the summer cooled into fall, the grandmother began to cut and sew three pairs of moccasins from a particularly beautiful soft, strong hide and bought beads to cover them in lovely colors and patterns.
As the boy watched her work he wondered who the moccasins were for. They were too big for him and his grandmother, and they were so lovingly and intricately beaded that they must be for someone very special.
The grandmother finished the moccasins on the following Christmas Eve. She wrapped them carefully and then told the little boy, "We're here to do the creator's work."
They walked through the woods to the house where the three men lived; when they answered the door she handed them the moccasins saying, "I wanted to wish you a merry Christmas. God bless you."
The men were speechless at the sight: the two vulnerable people they had hurt were responding not with anger and revenge but goodness and kindness.
The boy and grandmother, who had walked home the Christmas before without coats and shoes, gave to the men the most beautiful of gifts, made by their own hands.
The story really touches the heart, and makes the reader want to be a better person. The illustrations show the cold of winter and warmth of love between a little boy and his grandmother.
The decency and Native values that the grandmother teaches by both her words and example bring to my mind the way that elders have traditionally taught younger generations.
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We learn from the grandmother's example that, at times, things can happen that make us sad and hurt, that forgiveness is not easy and that it is also very powerful. And that some things take time, faith and patience.
"Christmas Moccasins," while aimed at ages 4-8, is a good book for all, including adults, who will appreciate it from the perspective of their own years and experience.
It is a wonderful read-aloud experience for all ages, who can find meaning and inspiration in the words and the lovely pictures.
Monthly columnist Linda LeGarde Grover is a professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth, an award-winning writer and a member of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. E-mail her at lgrover@d.umn.edu .
NEWS TO USE
Linda LeGarde Grover will read from and sign her new book, "The Dance Boots," at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, at UMD's Tweed Museum of Art.
