Mi'kmaw artist Alan Syliboy explores death, afterlife in new children's book

An author and artist from the Millbrook First Nation in central Nova Scotia has published a new book that aims to teach children about how the Mi'kmaq understand and come to grips with death.

Alan Syliboy said death is a part of life and he believes it should be addressed at an early age.

"I always thought of death as natural," Syliboy said. "It's just reality and we have to have ideas about when it happens and how to handle it."

When The Owl Calls Your Namefollows a spirit as it prepares for the journey to the next life. The children's book conveys the message that people should live their lives to the fullest until the owl is ready for them.

Adapting a decades-old story

Syliboy came up with the owl concept after reading the book I Heard The Owl Call My Name, a 1967 novel aboutan Anglican priestwho learns about ancient beliefs ofdeath and mortality while at a First Nations community in British Columbia.

The book was released by Nimbus Publishing earlier this month, with Syliboy hosting a book launch at his art studio in Millbrook.

Throughout the years, he adapted the story to his traditional teachings and performed it as a spoken word song with his band Alan Syliboy & the Thundermakers.

"Owls are a messenger from the Creator and when they call your name the Creator wants you to come home," he said. "Owls fly on silent wings and you may never know when he'll be coming."

When The Owl Calls Your Nameis Syliboy's fourth children's book. He said he enjoys writing for children because it starts teaching them about Mi'kmaw culture.

Importantconversations

"I've heard it said that you die twice. First you die, and then you die again when no one says your name," he said.

Syliboy said creating this book is another way to remind youth that the Mi'kmaq are still here, he said, anticipating the next generation will "keep your memory alive too."

Clinical therapist Michelle Peters, who has worked in her community of Pictou Landing First Nation for years, saidit's important to have conversations with young children about death and grief.

"I think it's important for Canadians to be open to other world views," she said. "There's many forms of knowledge and the Indigenous world view is one that embodies a holistic perspective on life."

Sylliboy'sother titles includeWolverine and Little Thunder, The Thundermakerand Mi'kmawAnimals,with versions available in English and in Mi'kmaw.

'It is part of nature'

He dedicates When The Owl Calls Your Name to Robert Denton, a close friend and animator who died in 2022. They wanted to explore the connection between Mi'kmaw cosmology and death.

"The Milky Way is a spiritual path and that's where your spirit journeys from here to back to the Creator,"Syliboy said. "If you imagine travelling along that road, there are signposts to tell you the way to get here."

Communities on reserves are close-knitand deaths reverberate, be they from natural causesorothers such as car accidents. That means young people living in these communitiesoften must learn about deathat a young age.

Syliboy said there is a stigma attached to death, and he hopes thebook will help people understand it from the perspective of another culture.

"People have a lot of fear of it," he said. "I think if they come to see that it is part of nature, then they would be less afraid of it."