Dale Kakkak

For two or three weeks each spring, an elder named Gahgoonse (Little Porcupine, or “Porky” for short) holds his sugarbush camp by Lake Independence, Minnesota, where he teaches students from the city the serious business of collecting sap, boiling it down, and making maple syrup, candy, and sugar — and, of course, the giving of thanks for providing this most sacred of trees. — Oyate (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today)

Glen Jackson, Jr., is an 11-year-old Ojibwe Indian from the Leech Lake reservation in Minnesota. His people are wild rice growers, and the annual harvest has as much spiritual meaning for his people as the raising of corn, beans, and squash does for the Hopi and the Seneca. Glen is taking part in the ritual for the first time and is worried that he won’t be strong enough to push the canoe through the rice beds without tipping over. — School Library Journal (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today)