Spirit Island

This is the island where the infant Omakayas is found, and abandoned, by a group of fur traders. It is portrayed as being naturally beautiful, populated by happily singing birds.

Smallpox

Smallpox is a highly contagious disease that for centuries, on and off, destroyed entire European communities. As white settlers explored and made their homes in North America, they brought the disease with them, passing it on to the indigenous peoples who lived there and in turn devastating those communities. Over the years, smallpox has become a symbol and/or metaphor for the generally destructive influence of whites on indigenous peoples, and is utilized in the same way here.

Moningwanaykaning (Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker)

This is the island where Omakayas and her family make their home. It's interesting to note that its translated name contains a reference to a bird, a species of animal that...