Grass, Sky, Song Illustrated: "Birds of Promise"

Western meadowlark photo appears with the generous permission of David Cree

In chapter three of the book I use a story about the western meadowlark collected by an American Nineteenth century ethnologist named Melvin Gilmore. I found it in his book Prairie Smoke, which recounts his travels among the Dakota people of the northern plains. Gilmore was respectful of the lifeways of the people he studied and admired them for their intimacy with wild things and detailed knowledge of plants and animals. Here is the cover of my copy of Prairie Smoke, which I found in a used bookshop many years ago.