Identity is often revealed in the most perilous situations. In The AbenakiÑPeople of the Dawn, it is Joe ObomsawinÕs intimate knowledge of the back roads and hidden trails on the frontiers of Quebec and New England that narrowly saves a group of bootleggers from capture. The escape also provides the impetus for his characterÕs powerful and deeply personal retelling of the history of his people. Huddled around a fire in a remote cabin, Obomsawin unfolds the tragic, improbable and inspiring story of the Abenaki nation, reduced from 50,000 to some 1,500 over a few hundred years of colonial settlement. A collaboration between author and storyteller Mike Burns and director G. Scott MacLeod as part of the animated series The Water of Life, The AbenakiÑPeople of the Dawn tells the harrowing tale of a peopleÕs struggle for survival.
This graphic novel is based on Mike BurnsÕ book of stories entitled The Water of Life (Chemin des Cantons, 2009). The illustrations by Montreal filmmaker G. Scott MacLeod have been adapted from his animated film of the same story.