Eagle Drums - Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson

Written by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson
Read by Irene Bedard
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 80 Kbps
Unabridged

A magical middle grade debut about the origin story of the Iñupiaq Messenger Feast, a Native Arctic tradition. With beautifully hand-drawn full color art throughout!

As his family prepares for winter, a young, skilled hunter must travel up the mountain to collect obsidian for knapping—the same mountain where his two older brothers died.

When he reaches the mountaintop, he is immediately confronted by a terrifying eagle god named Savik. Savik gives the boy a choice: follow me or die like your brothers.

What comes next is a harrowing journey to the home of the eagle gods and unexpected lessons on the natural world, the past that shapes us, and the community that binds us.

Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson is part cultural folklore, part origin myth about the Messenger’s Feast – which is still celebrated in times of bounty among the Iñupiaq. It’s the story of how Iñupiaq people were given the gift of music, song, dance, community, and everlasting tradition. Hopson’s full-page illustrations and spot art, rendered in colored pencil, accompany this powerful story.

“Narrator Irene Bedard–who is of Iñupiaq, Yu’pik, Cree, and French Canadian heritage–brings vocal authenticity to Iñupiaq author/illustrator Nasugraq Rainey Hopson’s debut novel…. Adopting the sonorous delivery of an oral storyteller, Bedard catches listeners up in the boy’s terror and determination as he learns the eagle’s complicated songs and dances and then goes back to the tundra to bring all its people together for a great feast…. The particulars of Arctic life ground the boy’s supernatural adventure, welcoming listeners into his world.” (AudioFile)

September 12 2023
4 hrs and 59 mins