Read an excerpt of The Land Speaks
Every season carries a gift
When a young girl visits her special place on the land with her mosôm, she learns that every season carries a gift. Together they greet the land, listen to it, learn its lessons in reciprocity and with gratitude, and offer tobacco in thanks. As the seasons change, so too does the girl’s relationship with her grandfather. Even when she must return to the land alone, she discovers that his teachings remain with her—in the sky, in the ground and in the animals all around her. The Land Speaks is a gentle, poetic story about love, loss, and the teachings we carry forward.
Jadyn Williams (formerly Fischer-McNab) is of Cree and settler mixed ancestry and is a proud member of George Gordon First Nation in Treaty 4 territory. She was born and raised in Mohkinstsis (Calgary), Alberta, on Treaty 7 territory. Jadyn is a full-time teacher and graduate student pursuing a Master of Education at the University of Calgary, where she also earned her Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Kinesiology degrees.
She is the illustrator of the published children’s book Brave Like the Buffalo (2023) and continues to explore storytelling through illustration and beadwork. Jadyn also runs her small stationery business, with products available online and in shops across Alberta. As an intergenerational Residential School survivor,
Jadyn is passionate about using art as a form of storytelling to spark conversations, honour Indigenous ways of knowing, and offer representation. Her work reflects her own journey of identity reclamation and her commitment to creating space for vulnerability, learning, and connection.
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