Eagle Drums

August 1, 2023
The I�upiaq origin story of the Messenger Feast and a boy who was kidnapped by eagles. Throughout Piŋa's childhood, he was told haunting stories about the dangers of strangers, an unknown presence in the mountains near his family's sod house, and his missing older brothers, Atau and Maliġu. His mother's projection of his brothers' successes onto him combined with his father's silence, both expressions of their grieving, leave Piŋa wondering, "How can you compete with someone's memories, anyway?" One day, Savik, who shape-shifts between man and golden eagle, offers Piŋa a choice: death or captivity. Piŋa reflects on the pain his death would cause his parents. He decides to go with Savik and try to return someday. The eagles teach Piŋa singing, drumming, and dancing. He also learns how to build a giant sod house and host a huge feast. The lessons aren't easy, and his ego is challenged: "I learned not to lead with demands. I learned to lead with connections." Piŋa struggles with fear and distrust instilled by his family, overcomes self-doubt, and becomes both "creator and learner." This orally transmitted tale, once banned like the feast it describes, offers a deep connection to rich cultural teachings. I�upiaq author and illustrator Hopson enhances the story with full-page color illustrations that visually connect readers with Piŋa's journey and emphasize the importance of connections to nature, spiritual beings, and human relatives. A captivating tale filled with enduring lessons about overcoming the fear of others. (author's note) (Folklore. 8-12)

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October 2, 2023
Among the Iñupiaq of the Arctic Circle, “the story of the Messenger Feast was passed down orally from generation to generation for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years,” Hopson writes in this illuminating retelling of the original tale, which follows an Iñupiaq tween who is kidnapped by eagles. All his life, Piŋa has navigated his parents’ grief over his missing older brothers, feeling as if he’s living in their shadow. When he is one day approached by Savik, a man who shape-shifts between golden eagle and human forms, Savik whisks Piŋa away from his mountainous home. With the eagles, Piŋa learns many skills and hard lessons, as well as the details of what would later become the tenements of the Messenger Feast, including the drum, dance, and construction of the qalgi, the ceremonial building. All the while, he yearns to return to his family. In this poignant adventure, the creator employs rhythmic prose that echoes the story’s oral traditions and offers illustrations rendered in rich, textured hues. An author’s note discusses how, like many Iñupiaq songs and dances, the story of the Messenger Feast was banned following the “encroachment of the missionaries into Indigenous territories and communities,” not to be resurrected until Hopson was in college. Ages 8–12.

November 1, 2023
Hopson's (Inupiat) debut novel is the story of the origin of the Messenger Feast, an Inupiat festival of song and dance. Pia follows in the footsteps of his two older brothers, both of whom died confronting a golden eagle. When he encounters the eagle, instead of attacking or freezing in fear, Pia accepts its challenge to learn what the Eagles can teach him. Pia brings his new understandings of song, drumming, dance, architecture, and community back to his family, to the animals who share their environment, and to the people whose stories sustain their culture. This retelling of a traditional tale benefits from Hopson's personal connection to Alaska, where she was born and raised and where she and her family live. Set in the long-ago of oral tradition and accompanied by occasional colored-pencil and ink drawings, the tale evokes the tundra in all its seasons. Hopson deftly describes smells (the autumn earth, the "dusty rot" of the Eagle Mother), tastes (berries, roasted caribou meat, bitter Arctic hare fed on willow bark), and sounds (marmot whistles, bumblebees) that bring the land to life for the reader and ground this archetypal hero's journey in the real world. Lara K. Aase

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2023
Grades 4-7 Piŋa, a young I�upiat hunter on a journey to the mountains to collect obsidian, meets a magical golden eagle, Savik. Rather than be killed by the shape-shifter (as were his older brothers), Piŋa agrees to accompany Savik to his aerie, where Eagle Mother schools Piŋa with lessons in song, dance, qalgi (sod-house) construction, and community. Eventually Piŋa returns to his family, where he is tasked with sharing what he has learned and preparing a celebratory meal (called the Messenger's Feast) to bring his people together. This folkloric origin myth offers many details about traditional Native Alaskan life, particularly ways to live off the land. I�upiat Hopson's smoothly written prose is infused with many Native words, and though no glossary is included, context clues make most meanings clear. Full-color illustrations (one per chapter) help readers to visualize the characters and Alaskan tundra setting, and elegant spot drawings grace chapter headings and section breaks. In her debut, Hopson offers a culturally specific survival story that should have much appeal; an author's note clarifies the source for this tale.

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Starred review from December 8, 2023

Gr 3-6-In this novelization of a traditional I�upiaq tale, a boy named Piŋa is out hunting alone when approached by an eagle who transforms into a man. Following this eagle, he spends a year and a half learning new skills such as drumming, singing, dancing, and building large shelters. Those skills add to the thorough knowledge of survival and respect for animals that he has learned from his parents. Eventually, he takes these lessons back to his parents and together they share them with the I�upiat people. Told in beautiful prose, this story evocatively describes life in the arctic, skillfully showing the frustrations and the beauty through Piŋa's eyes. The pace is slow but consistent with a satisfying surprise at the end. Occasional full-page color illustrations are simple but add to the charm and help provide imagery for readers unfamiliar with the arctic. Across the tops of chapters are traditional imagery such as arrows and ulu knives in repeating patterns. Author Hopson draws on her own I�upiat heritage and worked with several elders, detailed in her author's note, to share this tale that forms the basis of the most important traditional I�upiat feast. VERDICT An authentic, beautiful Alaska Native tale presented as a novel perfect for upper elementary students.-Elizabeth Nicolai

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