STORYTELLING IS AN ART
By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor
Band member Autumn Waaseyanakwadookwe Mixsooke grew up in the Lake Lena area. Throughout her childhood, Mixsooke had a vivid imagination and a talent for spinning tall tales. That love for storytelling only grew as Mixsooke became an adult. Now a moth er of two living in Isanti, Mixsooke is a published author.
At the urging of her then 9-year old son Levi, Mixsooke turned a favorite tale into a published book. “Dresses and Dirt” by Autumn Mixsooke was published by Dorrance Publishing Company, Inc. in March of 2024.
In the Ojibwe culture, storytelling is an ancient and important art. It’s how tales and teachings about the world are passed from generation to generation.
Tales are told all year long, but winter, especially, is a sea son of storytelling. The tradition stems back many generations to when, with each new season, the Ojibwe moved to different locations to harvest the land's resources. In winter, they would move into large birch bark wigwams and live on the food they had collected and preserved during the spring, summer, and fall.
Mixsooke has been telling stories to her children from the day they were born. She said her 6-year-old daughter Mila, Biskaakonekwe, loves to hear the tales her mom spins — especially the stories she would make up about Mila’s adventures. "Mila loves to get dressed up and be a girlie girl and a princess, but she is also notorious for getting covered head to toe in dirt. If she could roll around in the dirt all day, she would. When she was little, she would roll in the dirt,” Mixsooke said.
The book is about her daughter’s favorite things with Mila as the main character. She loves to wear dresses and isn’t afraid to get dirty. One day, she is wearing her favorite dress while playing soccer with her older brother, and her dress gets ripped. But instead of being discouraged and sad about her ripped dress, she sews it and fixes it with help from her mom. Afterward, she puts the fixed dress back on and goes right back out to play. Of course, in the dirt.
Back in real life, Mila loves to watch her mom sew and bead, Mixsooke said. Mila is learning from her mom. “I am too afraid to give her the small needles, but she is learning by watching me bead and sew.”
Mixsooke said she has dappled in writing for a long time here and there. But as a mom, she believes in the importance of reading to her kids so she reads to her children whenever she can, especially at night before bed. “My kids often ask me to tell them a story — one they hadn’t heard before,” Mixsooke said. “Mila would also ask for stories while we would be out hiking as a family, and this story kind of grew out of that. And this turned into her favorite story. She would ask for it all the time. And my son said, ‘Why don’t you just make it into a real book?’ and I thought well, maybe I will.”
Mixsooke wrote the story down and submitted the story to a publisher who liked it right away. That was the easy part Mixsooke said. “I Submitted photos by Annie Melin. had already told the story so many times, it was easy to write it down,” she said.
Mixsooke said her first book was a learning experience. “I went with the first publisher who said they liked my book,” she said. The publisher worked with her and walked her through the editing and publishing process. For her next book, she said she would like to find an Indigenous publisher. The hard part came with the edits and the illustrations, she said. “I think the next book I will just illustrate myself,” she added with a grin and a slight eye-roll.
When asked if she is also an artist, Mixsooke boldly said, “I can do everything. I always say I am moderately good at everything — amazing at nothing,” she said with a laugh. She credits her multi-talents to her family as her grandmother is an artist, her mom paints, and they all enjoy doing crafts and a lot of DIY projects.
Mixsooke and her husband have coordinated their work schedules so that they do not have to pay for daycare. Her husband works during the day and Mixsooke works nights. “We often just high-five when he gets home and I go to work, but that way I am there for them when they get home from school, too,” she said.
Mixsooke credits her love of storytelling and writing to her mom. “She used to read to us all the time when we were growing up. She started reading chapter books to us when I was 5 years old. She read all of the Harry Potter books chapter by chapter. That really inspired my imagination and love for anything fantasy.”
Now that school is back in session, Mixsooke feels she will have more time to start her next project. She is not sure what the next story will be, whether it is fantasy or not, but you can be sure it will be full of adventure.
“Dresses and Dirt” is available at Barnes and Noble book stores.
Autumn Mixsooke.
