Interview: Veronica Tsinajinnie

In April, Veronica Tsinajinnie was awarded the 2008 Lacapa Spirit Prize for her story, Jóhonaa’éí: Bringer of Dawn. According to its website, the Lacapa Spirit Prize is “a literary prize for children’s books about the peoples, cultures and landscapes of the Southwest.

Here’s a paragraph about the book, excerpted from the Lacapa Spirit Prize website:

Jóhonaa’éí: Bringer of Dawn is a beautiful and peaceful story of the relationship the sun has to the earth and its inhabitants as he rises every morning and brings dawn. Veronica Tsinajinnie’s bilingual narrative is powerfully subtle in its presentation of Navajo culture. The story chronicles the journey of Jóhonaa’éí, the sun, as he passes over land, plants, animals, and humans, ushering in a new day. After Jóhonaa’éí wakes the field mice, the rabbits, and the sheep, he is “contented to know his job is done…” He finally arrives at a hogan door to wake “his children” who live inside. The sun then watches as the family offers “white corn to the morning spirits” and “give thanks to the bringer of dawn” before they begin their day also content to know that their job is done as well. Young readers will delight in Tsinajinnie’s progressive repetition, recognizing the daily path as one they, too, walk.

A few weeks ago, I had an e-conversation with Tsinajinnie about her book. Today, I share that conversation.

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DR: Is Jóhonaa’éí: Bringer of Dawn your first book?

VT: Yes. It is my very first “published” book. I was a student at Dine’ College from 2001-2004 and took a children’s literacy class. One of our projects was to write a children’s book. It was a Navajo adaption to the story If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. My story was titled If You Give a Glissi Roasted Corn. Glissi is Navajo for goat. For this project, I actually drew the pictures to go with the story. So if, by chance, you decide to look it up online I must warn you that the pictures were drawn very badly and way before I began “seriously” practicing art/drawing. [Note from Debbie. The text is in Navajo. It is a multi-media project; you can listen to the book being read, in Navajo. Click here. Tsinajinnie's is one of many on the site.]

So technically, Jóhonaa’éí: Bringer of Dawn is not my first book because I did have to have a binding, pictures, table of contents, etc. for If You Give a Glissi Roasted Corn. But it is my first professionally published book.

DR: What prompted you to write it?

VT: At the time I was an educational assistant with a Family Literacy Program, in the preschool classroom. I was constantly reading to the children there and as the number of my nieces and nephews grew I began to feel a feeling of guilt because very few of the books we would read to them (at work and at home) were about them and the things they knew. So……I began to write stories for them about them and about the things they know.

DR: What sorts of books did you read when you were a child? Do you remember one with particular fondness?

VT: I remember my favorite books being Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag, and Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel. I’m not really sure why these were my favorite books but my father says that I would have him read them over and over again.

My all time favorite stories though were not in book form but orally told. I remember loving the summer times and winter breaks from school because that was when my family would stay with my grandparents. In the winter my grandfather would tell the coyote stories by firelight or around the lantern (they did not receive electricity until about 15 years ago). In the summer time they would tell us stories about when they were growing up; I was so fascinated. My grandfather was a great story teller because he loved to laugh. I have fond memories of him telling us a story and my grandmother getting a little bent because according to her, his story was completely untrue. An example of one would be the story my grandfather would tell about how he met my grandmother. The way he tells it he was riding his horse home from a one of his uncle’s house and he came upon a beautiful girl (my grandmother) as she herded sheep. He says she was so beautiful and he knew he wanted her to be his wife so he rode by her and picked her up from atop the horse and never took her home. This was one story my grandmother continues to deny happened. Regardless if it is true or not it is one of my favorite stories.

DR: Where were you born, and did you go to a public elementary school? Or a day school?

VT: I was born in the old hospital in Ft. Defiance AZ. (I really wish I had a cooler story like "in a hogan in the middle of winter" but I don’t.) From kindergarten until about second grade I went to Birdsprings Little Singer School. After that I went to Ganado for elementary, middle school, and high school. I always came back to Little Singer School for summer school though.

DR: Will you have another book out soon?

VT: I’d like to say that I’d have another book out soon although there is not one in the works right now. I have continued to submit more stories but sadly none have gone any further that that.

2008 Lacapa Spirit Prize Winner

PRESS RELEASE
Winner Named: Lacapa Spirit Prize for Southwest Children’s Literature

April 6, 2008

The Lacapa Spirit Prize is proud to announce its 2008 winner. Named for Michael Lacapa, children’s book illustrator and writer who died in 2005, the award honors the legacy of his artistic vision and talent for storytelling. This prize acknowledges great books for children that best embody the spirit of the peoples, culture and natural landscape of the Southwest. Books published in the two years prior to the award are eligible for consideration.

The 2008 Lacapa Spirit Prize for Narrative was awarded to “Jóhonaa’éí: Bringer of Dawn” by Veronica Tsinajinnie, illustrated by Ryan Singer, published by Salina Bookshelf Inc.

“Jóhonaa’éí: Bringer of Dawn” is a beautiful and peaceful story of the relationship the sun has to the earth and its inhabitants as he rises every morning and brings dawn. Veronica Tsinajinnie’s bilingual narrative is powerfully subtle in its presentation of Navajo culture. The story chronicles the journey of Jóhonaa’éí, the sun, as he passes over land, plants, animals, and humans, ushering in a new day. After Jóhonaa’éí wakes the field mice, the rabbits, and the sheep, he is “contented to know his job is done…” He finally arrives at a hogan door to wake “his children” who live inside. The sun then watches as the family offers “white corn to the morning spirits” and “give thanks to the bringer of dawn” before they begin their day also content to know that their job is done as well. Young readers will delight in Tsinajinnie’s progressive repetition, recognizing the daily path as one they, too, walk.

Michael Lacapa (Apache, Tewa and Hopi) worked with the Apache tribe in developing multicultural educational curricula for Native school-age children and often used storytelling as a teaching tool.

He was an exceptional storyteller and the talented illustrator of such books as “The Magic Hummingbird,” “Spider Spins a Story,” and “The Good Rainbow Road.” He is the author/illustrator of “The Flute Player,” “Antelope Woman” and “Less Than Half, More Than Whole,” the latter co-authored with his wife Kathy.

The Lacapa Spirit Prizes will be awarded to recipients during the 10^th Annual Northern Arizona Book Festival in Flagstaff, April 25-26, 2008. This prize is made possible through the generous support of the Northern Arizona Book Festival. The festival schedule may be found at www.nazbookfest.com

Lacapa Spirit Prize for Southwest Children's Literature: 2007 Winner

The 2007 Lacapa Spirit Prize was awarded to Little Crow to the Rescue: El Cuervito Al Rescate, written by Victor Villasenor, illustrated by Filipe Ugalde Alcantara.


From the press release:

Villaseñor’s bilingual fable, Little Crow to the Rescue, delightfully explores the interdependence of humans and animals. Crows learn to fear humans, sons learn from their fathers, fathers learn from their sons—all have knowledge that must be shared. One prize judge noted, “Villaseñor and illustrator Filipe Ugalde Alcántara have teamed up to create a book that will entertain and inspire young readers …Told with humor and respect for tradition, Victor Villaseñor hopes this story will inspire young people to share their wisdom with their elders. Illustrator Filipe Ugalde Alcántara uses brilliant color and bold images to visually tell this story. His paintings portray the curvature of the earth and suggest the circular nature of story that begins and ends by asking and answering the question of why humans cannot catch crows. Both story and illustration spring from Villaseñor and Alcántara’s Mexican heritages and have greatly enriched the body of Southwest children’s literature.”

The 2007 Lacapa Honor Prize for Narrative was given to Evangeline Parson Yazzie for Dzání Yázhí Naazbaa’: Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home: A Story of the Navajo Long Walk, published by Salina Book Shelf and the 2007 Lacapa Honor Prize for Illustration went to Kendrick Bennaly’s illustrations for Frog Brings Rain, also from Salina Bookshelf.

Lacapa (Apache, Tewa and Hopi) worked with the Apache tribe in developing multicultural educational curricula for Native school-age children and often used storytelling as a teaching tool. He was an exceptional storyteller and the talented illustrator of such books as The Magic Hummingbird, Spider Spins a Story, and The Good Rainbow Road. He is the author/illustrator of The Flute Player, Antelope Woman and Less Than Half, More Than Whole, the latter co-authored with his wife Kathy.

The Lacapa Spirit Prizes will be awarded to recipients during the 10th Annual Northern Arizona Book Festival in Flagstaff, April 20-22, 2007. This prize is made possible through the generous support of the Northern Arizona Book Festival and Rising Moon/Luna Rising, imprints of Northland Publishing, Michael Lacapa’s first publisher. More information on submissions requirements for next year’s award and the Northern Arizona Book Festival schedule may be found
at www.nazbookfestival.org