Benjamin’s Thunderstorm

MELANIE FLORENCE | Cree

HAWLII PICHETTE | Mushkego Cree

  • English, Cree

  • powwow, powwow dancers, Indigenous family, Cree language and culture, environment

  • Pre Kindergarten +

Benjamin loves the rain. He loves splashing through puddles in his bright yellow rain boots and watching the colors of a rainbow in the water as they ripple around his feet. But most of all, Benjamin loves thunder. To him, thunder – piyêsiwak – sounds like his grandfather’s drum. It calls to him, like the songs his grandfather plays while his father and other powwow dancers spin and step in time to the drumbeat. As Benjamin hears the thunder rumble overhead, he imagines himself as a powwow dancer. He spins, he taps his feet and he lifts his knees. Faster and faster he twirls, delighted by and filled with the rhythm of piyêsiwak.