3/8/19

CRY OF THE ANCIENTS


by Grey Owl and Little Pigeon

Little Pigeon was in private life Clara B. Nicholas. She was born in 1913 in the Prairie Province of Alberta, Canada. Though she was widely known in the East and Midwest as a lecturer, and a number of her articles have appeared in Indian specialty magazines, she insisted she had done nothing worthy of mention—except to raise fourteen children.

She and Grey Owl were married in 1946, a second marriage for each of them. He had five children, she had two, and together they had seven. The last four came in pairs, which was quite a novelty and a lot of hard work.

During the years following Grey Owl's death in 1959, while the younger seven were growing up, Clara made their living by leathercraft and beadwork. Her crafts were exhibited in various art and crafts shows in the East. She was awarded the Grand Award for Creative Writing at the 12th Annual Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition in 1974. The award was given for an essay entitled "And Now My Brothers."