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Speaker 1: Good morning, Cynthia. How are you doing today?

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Speaker 2: Good morning, I'm lovely thank you, how are you?

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Speaker 1: Fantastic excited to talk with you, because I have been

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with many elders, and I've sat with many medicine men

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in this area, and the thing is is that they've

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always been worried about nobody is writing the stories, and

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all of a sudden, the universe has given us you

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because you're you're so authentic in this book. I just

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I'm so proud of you.

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Speaker 2: Well, I am profoundly honored.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for your kindness to bring it together. Where

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where in your heart did you find the story and

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did you feel like that it needs to be shared

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in a way of making a truer connection with the

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up and coming generations.

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Speaker 2: A lot of the inspiration for the story comes from

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our very old stories, those stories of ancient times and

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the deep ancestors. So this sort the spark of the

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story was a traditional story about an ancient ballgame between

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the birds and the animal, and in that context that

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was sort of pushed aside because that was small and

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no one thought that that could make a difference. That

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won a ballgame for the animals by flying high and

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catching a ball in his teeth, and that for our

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little one says to them what that little ones can

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make a difference, That we each bring our own gifts

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every situation, that when we look at each other, we

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should see what someone has to offer and not discount

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them simply because of difference. So I took the traditional

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story and I put it in a modern context. We

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call that modern folklore, where indigenous or native authors are

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revisiting our older teachings and passing them on to new

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generations in a way that is fully contemporary, that is

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centered on kids just like them who are going to

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school and shopping at targeting, going to the ballgames, and

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having all the same sort of contemporary life they are,

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but also have an understanding and appreciation of their cultures

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and traditions that they honor their elders and their ancestors.

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Speaker 1: This is every bit what I was talking about in

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the beginning, is that you're bringing the past forward. And

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so many of the elders have said that it isn't happening,

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But you have started something here with Harper Collins that

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I hope, in my heart will continue to be an

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open door.

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Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm honored. I will say it is an

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inner tribal creative community that stands with me in pursuit

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of this goal. We have a rising generation of storytellers.

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If you look at the work of Navajo author Brian

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Young and his Heroes and Healer of the Water Monster books,

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those are also modern folklore, and they're a wonderful reflection

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of both modern Dnay, our Navajo life, friend's life, but

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they are also hearkening back to these timeless teachings that

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I genuinely believe are just as relevant today, if not

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more so. And the more indigenous storytellers we have rising,

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the more tribal teachings will be naturally integrated and for

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their work. It's not as though these are books that

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are not for our kids as well. Right, We're not

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just trying to teach the outside world. We're trying to

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show our kids they belong in the world a book yep,

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and every kid in the storytelling circle that these are

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compelling narratives. These are books that they're going to want

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to reach for and be excited about and become stronger

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and more enthusiastic readers.

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Speaker 1: It's books like this that inspires the generations to also

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open their eyes to all living things. Because before I

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sat down to have this conversation today, I was walking

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through this forest in South Charlotte and right there in

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front of me was a six point buck just taking

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a nap. And it's little things like that that you

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take a story like yours, and then you walk through

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the everyday world and you realize we're all connected as

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a living beast.

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Speaker 2: Yes, that is definitely a thing that permeates the story,

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and you get that in the connections between the human

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characters and the animal characters. But also as they travel

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across the continent, they are camping out in the woods,

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They're going to small towns and big cities, they are

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visiting fishing ponds. They're very much fully integrated into our

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larger world. And yet so often I think that we

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just are conscious of our immediate physical surroundings, and so

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often people are flying over, are driving through without really

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getting into the world in its tackle and resonant kind

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of way. The kids are wonderful at that right, They

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are really creatures of wonder When you see when you

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see a five year old or a fifteen year old

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experiencing some aspect of nature for the first time, it

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is fresh, It is precious and it permeates more deeply

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because anytime there's a first in our life, we feel it.

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And the book gives every childhood opportunity to have this

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journey vicariously looking through the eyes of these young heroes.

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Speaker 1: The way that you give personality to Grandpa half Moon's

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pick up, the way that it kind of gurgles around,

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and how he doesn't freak out because it looks like

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there could be some trouble. We're gonna wait till you

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get to your cousin's house. We'll take care of it there.

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But that relationship between Mail and Ray and Grandpa half Moon,

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I love that because that, to me, is the soul

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of family.

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Speaker 2: It's a very intergenerational kind of story. You know, Grandpa

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half Moon is not a character in the background when

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we write our stories. We're not trying to get rid

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of all of the grown up because those intergenerational ties

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are so strong and so deep, and the importance of

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the elders is, you know, paramounts in terms of how

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the children are brought up. These are our wisdom keepers.

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They are also great sources of humor and knowledge, and

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Grandpa Halfmon is eager to go on this adventure. He

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is not a stereotype. He is a three dimensional person.

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He's a veteran, he's a little interested in reconnecting with

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his high school sweetheart. He has life of his own,

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but the children are very much centered in his heart

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and in his day to day existence.

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Speaker 1: One of the things that you bring up is you

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bring up the connection between the two different nations, and

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just to my leftover here is an authentic acoustic and

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I just I wish people would understand the importance of

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that as well as dream catchers, and they're not what

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people think they are. Will you do that in your

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stories in the future, to explain the spiritual tools so

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that people don't treat him like candy.

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Speaker 2: You know, my goal is to see the world through

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the eyes of young Native hero Yes. So their value

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system for items of cultural importance or sacred and even

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importance is contextualized by the way that they have been

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raised by their value system. And I think with kids,

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especially if I give them something that feels like this

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is part of the world and this is how we

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process it, They're going to sink more deeply into that

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space than anything else I can do. If I show

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them the reverence that Melanie and Ray have or back

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or when they encounter, you know, misrepresentations of their cultures

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out in the world. That's going to permeate more deeply

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with kids and teens because they're going to feel what

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those young Native heroes are feeling. If they come across

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a cigar store Indians, that's gonna come one way. If

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they are not grounded in Muscogie Ottawa's seminical Cherokee point

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of view, then it is if they really are and

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they're seeing that stereotype, but they're seeing it juxtaposed against

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these characters who they love and who are funny and

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who are very much people of today.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, this is going to create conversation and relationships with

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with those who are not Indigenous. And the reason why

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is because they're going to read this book in their

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libraries or in their bookstores and they're and they're going

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to say, this is this is mel that this is Ray.

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I know these guys they go to my school. I

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want to ask questions.

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Speaker 2: Yes. The goal here very much for non Native kids

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is for them to know fully recognize and appreciate that

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we have a past, the president in the future, but

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also that we're real human beings. We are not misty

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legendary creatures of your We could be your neighbors, We

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could be your dungeists. Yeah, you know we're We're We're

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we are still here and we always will be.

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Speaker 1: Wow. Where can people go to find out more about you,

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Cynthia and your circle of authors, because I really want

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to promote that.

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Speaker 2: My website is Cynthia lticsmith dot com. They can also

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go to Harper Collins Harper Kids and look for information

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about Heart Drum, which is a native focused imprint of

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the publisher and really features on modern day narratives create

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authentically created with oop and humor and healing by native people.

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Speaker 1: Wow. You got to come back to this show anytime

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in the future, Cynthia. The door is always going to

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be open for you.

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Speaker 2: Madame, my friend. Thank you.

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Speaker 1: Well, you have a brilliant day today. Okay, Youtobe