Flight of the Hummingbird

October 25, 2008

A Flight of the Hummingbird
Parable for the Environment
Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
with Wangari Maathai and His Holiness the 14th Dalai LamaHardcover, 64 pages
8.1 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches

Greystone Books
ISBN-13: 978-1553653721
$16.00 CAD
Buy the Book

See the animated Haida-Manga video!

“Here is the story of the great forest
that caught on fire.”

Flight of the Hummingbird is one of those rare books destined to become a treasured artifact. Having now turned the perfectly made pages of this little book numerous times, and been touched by its story and the sense of global hope that surrounds the project, I am no less captivated than I was on the first read.

Greystone Books offers us a timeless story here, one long-held by the Quechan people of South America, the Haida of the North Pacific, and now modern-day environmentalists and activists. We receive the gift through the unique artistic vision of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, whose work animates the iconography of the Haida menagerie, retaining the traditional red, black, and white palette while freshening the animal forms for a modern global audience. Yahgulanaas calls it “Haida Manga,” allowing these ancient animal symbols to spring to narrative life — flying, leaping, questioning and emitting exclamations at the determination of the story’s unlikely heroine. She is Dukdukdiya, a lone hummingbird who simply and steadily “does what she can” despite the danger and the remoteness of personal reward.

The essay, “The Hummingbird Effect,” by editor Michelle Benjamin, elegantly contextualizes the diminutive bird’s popularity among the stories of indigenous peoples of the Americas.

It comes as no surprise that two Nobel Peace Prize-winners enfold this book in their blessings. The Foreword by Wangari Maathai and the Afterword by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama endow it with the global weight it richly deserves.

There is absolutely nothing I do not love about this slender volume. Its tale is true, the art is delightful, its editorial treatment is excellently simple and direct, and the book itself is beautifully made. I typically donate the books I review, but this one I’m keeping. I just can’t part with it.

A beautiful holiday book, it would make a fine accompaniment to the gift of a donation in a loved one’s name to any of the following worthy environmental organizations, or your own favorite. In this small way one might imitate hummingbird Dukdukdiya’s forbearance, her humble willingness in the face of the large task of saving the earth, to start where we are, and “do what we can”:

The Sierra Club
The Rainforest Alliance
National Resources Defense Council

Ceci Miller owns CeciBooks, an editorial and book publishing consultancy that empowers authors to write, publish, and market irresistible books that uplift and inspire. Ceci has written, co-authored, and edited books with bestselling authors and experts since 1988. See new and popular book projects. Also . . . Find expert information on writing, publishing, and marketing a book in CeciBooks Chats (Getting Started series is FREE).A graduate of the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Ceci Miller is also the author of two published children’s picture books, and former contributing editor for Darshan, an international magazine. A student of yoga and meditation since 1976, Ceci leads seminars that explore language as a vehicle for personal transformation. Based on her book Sacred Visitations, and the popular book she co-authored with John Lee, Writing from the Body, Ceci’s work (both with CeciBooks authors and in public programs) blends writing, intuitive guidance, and contemplative practices that connect right brain creativity with your true intention.