Description:
A luminous celebration of Indigenous women's strength and spirit. Feathers of Wisdom shares forty timeless legends and art by Ojibwe/Potawatomi artist Kait Matthews-honoring the ancestral wisdom, and Indigenous storytelling.
Brief description: Leigh Podgorski is an award-winning novelist, playwright, and screenwriter whose work has been produced in Los Angeles, New York, and across the U.S. Her play We Are Still Here, honoring Cahuilla elder Katherine Siva Saubel, premiered at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum and is now part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian collection. Leigh is the author of Western Song, The Women Debrowska, and the Stone Quest series, and the writer of the FlowerWise Oracle Deck. Her work celebrates storytelling as a bridge between generations, cultures, and the spiritual world.
Review Quotes:
A breathtaking keepsake."A stunning blend of art and story - the kind of book you keep on your coffee table because every page feels like a treasure."The perfect gift."I bought copies for my mom, sister, and best friend - each woman found a different story that spoke straight to her heart." A calming, soulful experience."Every story honors the strength, wisdom and courage of Indigenous women-it's inspiring, grounding, and unforgettable." BOOK REVIEW-GOOD READSReviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
Feathers of Wisdom by Leigh Podgorski shares the stories of women whose lives influenced their tribes and the world around them across generations. In Maya tradition, Ixchel's presence as the Moon Goddess shaped the cycles of life by bringing water to the land and guiding birth and healing, and her connection to the Sun-God and her children tied her to creation itself. Among the Cahuilla, Menily rose to instruct her people in daily life and ritual practice before ascending to the sky to mark the first New Moon. In Inuit stories, Sedna's descent into the sea transformed her into the ruler of marine life, shaping both the bounty and dangers faced by hunters. A Piegan Blackfoot woman devoted to the Sun guided Scarface through a journey that led to the creation of the first Medicine Lodge. Each story closes with a direct message and attributes.
Leigh Podgorski's Feathers of Wisdom is illustrated by Kait Matthews and is a luminous celebration of Indigenous women, with each entry featuring a gorgeous visual of the woman in a contemporary graphic design style in earth and jewel tones. It's really hard to pick a favorite, but the standout is Dream of Double Woman, where Double Woman appeared in a dream to a Sioux maiden, teaching her to make quillwork buffalo robes, where she remains still sewing hides in moonlight. In The Legend of White Buffalo Calf Woman, Lakota hunters are instructed to build a medicine lodge and a pipe of buffalo calf that embodies prayer, peace, and where the arrival of sustenance is given as a sacred gift. She then rises as four buffalo before vanishing. This is a spectacular book and an extraordinary way to honor these women and carry on their stories. Very highly recommended.