The First Christmas Tree: An Innu Tale

It is very cold in the Far North.

The Great Manitou knows that winter is the harshest season for the Innu, and he decides to find a way to make their winters a little brighter. He searches through the trees in the forest to find one who will bring joy, beauty and warmth to all. Could it be the larch, the tree that the Innu use to make sleds, bows or ointments? The birch, malleable and robust? Or the magnificent black spruce? “Do you want to become the Christmas tree?” he asks each one. But one after the other, the trees decline his offer. All except one, the little fir tree, whom the Great Manitou had initially overlooked.

Ovila Fontaine is an Innu Elder from the community of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam, where he has lived and worked all his life. From an early age, he was interested in hunting and life in the forest. When he became a father, he embarked on a quest for his own history and culture. Today, Ovila is an accomplished presenter, skilled at explaining the fundamentals of Innu culture and philosophy to the uninitiated. He is often called upon to act as a cultural ambassador for multiple organizations.

Charlotte Parent is an illustrator based in Montreal. In 2017, she obtained her bachelor's degree in fine arts from Concordia University, where she focused on drawing. Passionate about picture books, she now creates illustrations in colored pencil or gouache for children's literature. Charlotte likes to depict the magic of the ordinary in her gentle and playful illustrations. The First Christmas Tree is her second picture book.

Ann Marie Boulanger is a certified translator and owner of Traduction Proteus Inc. When she’s not translating commercial texts, she’s an accomplished translator of adult and children’s literature. Her translation of The Woman in Valencia, by Annie Perreault, was named a World Literature Today Notable Translation of 2021. She’s also a part-time lecturer at McGill University and co-founder of LION Translation Academy, which offers business, tech and language training workshops for translators.