Flight of the Hummingbird: A Parable for the Environment

By Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas with Wangari Maathai and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, 61 pages, GreyStone.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is not a traditional writer.  He’s an artist, but not a traditional artist. He has developed a new genre—Haida Manga- a style evolved under the sway of indigenous and colonial heritages. A passion for social and environmental justice and influences from his Pacific Rim island home feed the muse of this artist.

Art and Ancient Parable

Flight of Hummingbird melds an ancient parable with original art.  Parables persist for centuries because they hold meaning beyond the sum of their words. The little parable, with origins in the oral traditions of the Quechuan people of South America, is told in only about a dozen pages of illustrations with only a sentence or two per page.  It’s colorful and suitable for young children, yet the message has enough depth for any Ph. D- holding philosopher.

Flight of the Hummingbird / More than a Children's Book

The lessons of the parable are expanded by short essays by the author and two Nobel Prize winners: Wangari Maathai and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.  Maathai’s personal story is parallel to the hummingbird.  The Dalai Lama writes with such compassion and common sense it is hard to deny his wisdom even if the reader does not recognize him as their spiritual leader.

The parable, this time-tested truth, requires interpretation. Some will find the parable heart wrenching; others will find hope in the power of the individual.  All will ask the question: Is the hummingbird powerful?  

A version of this review previously appeared in a Sierra Club publication. Amy Lou Jenkins’ essay 'One Hundred and Twenty-Five Miles,' appears in the Seal Press Anthology 'The Maternal is Political.'