Alexis Bunten

Another great picture book release with Native representation. What Your Ribbon Skirt Means to Me follows a young girl, Pia, and her community as they celebrate the inauguration of Deb Haaland as the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. The illustrations by Nicole Neidhardt are strong, colorful, and dynamic and draw on the history of Native art weaving portraiture and pattern. This is a book that honors Native women and elders in a meaningful way and discusses why Deb Haaland's inauguration was so historic. Best for elementary school aged kids 6 - 8 years old.… (more)

Children gather to watch a historical event, the swearing in of the first Indigenous secretary of the Department of the Interior.

After school, young Pia, whose mother is Anishinaabe and whose father is Chamorro, runs to the Native American center, where Auntie Autumn greets her with “Hersha Tuhe,” Ramaytush Ohlone for greetings. Pia and other diverse kids watch on TV as Deb Haaland makes history. Pia notices that “Auntie Deb” is wearing a ribbon skirt, a ceremonial garment that celebrates Indigenous womanhood. That night, the kids and their families attend a celebration in honor of Secretary Haaland, where they make their own ribbon skirts. Bunten (Aleut/Yup’ik) engages readers with lively language (“a parade of beef stew, fry bread, dried buffalo”). Neidhardt’s (Diné) bold, realistic art radiates with strength, especially when Pia’s grandmother teaches her about the importance of regalia: “You shine with all the strength of our mothers and grandmothers since time immemorial.” Grandma adds that Auntie Deb wore the ribbon skirt for the ancestors and for “all the mothers, aunties, daughters, and grandmothers yet to be born—Native and non-Native,” and Pia realizes the power woven into each ribbon skirt. The colors of the ribbons symbolize connections to the natural world. References to rooreh salad and sage hint at an inclusion of various Indigenous cultures. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A powerful story of intergenerational strength, womanhood, and Native pride. (more information on Deb Haaland, the history and meaning of ribbon skirts, instructions on writing a letter to the government, author’s and illustrator’s notes, sources) (Picture book. 5-9)

-Kirkus Review… (more)