Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau

The box is open; at the right, the title page with information on the work at the foot of the page and, on its left, the inside of the box cover showing fabric with a floral motif in violet, yellow and green tones on a black background.

The young girl in the title, dressed in a blue dress, has a head of long black hair. Behind her, a huge ochre-coloured bear takes her by the shoulders with his clawed paws. They are in the forest, if we can presume by the green undergrowth. In the background, two trees, one ochre and the other black, break through the deep-blue sky.

A bear is preparing to plunge Wily Beaver into a cauldron full of boiling water as two women look on. The main elements of the engraving are in place: trees in the background, women holding each other by the shoulder at the centre. On the left, the huge bear holds the beaver with one paw by the skin of his neck, with a spoon in his other hand leaving no doubt as to his intentions. Finally, we see the cauldron on the fire surrounded by stones.

A child is deep in conversation with a fox. A magnificent red fox, with a white chest and ears pointed towards the child clad in a white tunic, seems to be revealing a secret. In green, blue, red ochre and black on the white paper, it is a peaceful scene imbued with mystery.

The crow is front and centre of a strange landscape. It is perched on a trunk immerged in brackish water where the body of a dead animal is floating. A sharp yellow outline surrounds the crow’s black shape. The crow’s wings bent inwards and closed beak give it a look of impartibility well suited to the opacity of the water’s surface.

The loon’s black and white mass is in sharp contrast to the blue of calm waters. The relatively realistic depiction of the bird contrasts with the magic of the legend behind the silvery collar adorning the loon’s neck.

A chickadee, with a white belly, a grey back and a black skullcap, perched on a grey mound and an orangey butterfly with its wings unfurled are colourful touches in a clearing surrounded by trees with dark foliage. The children in the title of the work are not shown in this detail of an exuberant work: black, grey-green and orangey tones with white touches of the paper, and the imagination takes flight.

In this very ornate detail, the kidnapped woman appears in white, surrounded by a man and a woman dressed in red ochre. At the very top of the picture, crossing the blue of the sky, two white geese continue their migratory flight. In front of the human beings, seven woodland animals seem to await a conclusion that fails to come: we recognise the caribou, bear, lynx, muskrat, fox, beaver and wolverine. This wood engraving is in five colours: red ochre, yellow, brown, blue and black on white paper.

In a mountainous landscape, three caribou cross a river under a heavy rain. The brown masses of the caribou walking in the grey water are seen against high red mountains rising in front of a gloomy sky.

This book measures 22.8 x 17.1 x 3.2cm. A photograph in sepia tones decorates the cover: a lake in a very dense forest where a female moose is drinking. The right-hand edge of the photograph gives way to drawings taken from the author’s notebooks: daily life scenes and loons.