Lost at Windy River tells the story of a girl using traditional knowledge to survive in the winter wilderness
There are different versions of Ilse Schweder's story of how as a young girl she used traditional knowledge to survive for nine days alone on the land in a harsh Canadian winter 80 years ago.
But until now, retellings of the harrowing journey lacked one important aspect: her own voice.
Lost at Windy River: A True Story of Survival, a 96-page children's graphic novel, is written by Trina Rathgeber, Schweder's granddaughter and a member of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation who now lives in Calgary. The book is based on Rathgeber's interviews with Schweder.
"This story has sort of echoed throughout my family for years," Rathgeber says in an interview with Saskatoon Morning host Stephanie Massicotte. "But I would read about it in old newspaper articles. And for me, it was really important to just capture the story and put it down in her own words."
Rathgeber explains in the book's preface that a chapter in Farley Mowat's book People of the Deer is inspired by Schweder's story. "She always felt strongly that it was her story to tell, not his," Rathgeber writes.
Rathgeber originally conceived the story as a novel, but Orca Book Publishers convinced her to try a comic book format. Lost at Windy River is illustrated by Alina Pete, a Cree artist from Little Pine First Nation, and coloured by Métis artist Jillian Dolan.
Chosen as one of CBC Books' 23 Canadian comics to check out in fall 2024, it tells the story of how in 1944 in what is now Nunavut the 13-year-old was separated from her brothers while checking the family's trapline. Lost in a whiteout blizzard, Schweder relied on traditional knowledge to survive. She built a snow cave for shelter, used the movements of a migrating caribou herd as a compass to orient herself, and tracked birds to find berries under the snow where they landed.
"She does all of these things, but she's also encountering dangerous situations," Rathgeber said. "Her limbs are becoming frozen. Her fingernails have fallen off. It's a really challenging situation that she faces. It's harrowing, really."
(Orca Book Publishers)
Schweder, a respected Cree elder in northern Manitoba, died of pancreatic cancer not long after the interviews with her granddaughter.
"I hope that people will take the time to maybe go and talk to their grandparents after they read this story and their elders to learn their stories and their family history," Rathgeber said. "Because storytelling is such an important way to pass on culture, language, ways of life and memories. And it really does connect us with our families and our ancestors."
Listen to the full Saskatoon Morning interview on the CBC Listen app to hear Rathgeber talk about her grandmother's life, learning to love graphic novels, and reclaiming Indigenous stories and history.
The graphic novel Lost at Windy River by Trina Rathgeber, Alina Pete and Jillian Dolan from Orca Book Publishers is available in bookstores Oct. 15.
