Willie Poll is a Métis author, activist, storyteller, and lifelong learner. Her picture books, such as Together We Drum, Our Hearts Beat as One and Minnow: The girl who became part fish, have been celebrated for exploring powerful Indigenous themes and encouraging positive social change. She is from Sault Ste. Marie, ON and now resides in Prince Edward Island.
We had the pleasure of catching up with her and talking about her most recent picture book projects.
Your stories encourage young readers to take pride in their identities and find strength in their cultures. How did you know you wanted to write for young people?
I've spent the last 12 years working with young people and they’ve been the biggest inspirations to me. These youth are some of the most knowledgeable changemakers I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. They mean the world to me and I want to create works of art that they can see themselves in.
I want to create stories that show the world these kids have more to them than resilience—they have love, they have power, they have brilliance, they have stories. Through connecting with Indigenous youth I am able to learn so much more about myself and my own Indigeneity. They helped me to be able to create things for my nieces and nephews to be proud of too.
Spending time with youth makes me so hopeful. I want to create books that support them as the next leaders, matriarchs, change makers, language speakers, knowledge keepers, and anything else that they dream to be.
Your most recent book, My Little Ogichidaa, is a lullaby inspired by Indigenous motherhood. How did you get the idea to write a lullaby?
My little Ogichidaa means my little warrior in Anishinaabemowin. This story was special as it was born from a single moment. About 4 years ago I was listening to Raven Lacerte, co-founder of the Moose Hide Campaign, speak to an audience. She was pregnant with her second and had her toddler beside her. She was grounded in power and you could feel her energy grounding her little ones too. It was a beautiful moment where an Indigenous woman was reclaiming traditional parenting. To me, it was also a huge power move for women everywhere who are constantly left out of spaces due to our society not respecting motherhood the way it should. It was an act of decolonization to see her in front of thousands, unapologetically with her little one at her side.
After watching her I wrote a poem, and it turned into My Little Ogichidaa. The story itself is a tribute to Indigenous parenthood; it intertwines our histories, our present, and our futures and within it I’ve poured all of my hopes and dreams for our young ones.
Your upcoming book, Our Ancestor’s Kitchen, celebrates the connection we share to our ancestors through food. Do you have a special memory tied to food?
I have SO many memories tied to food, and in the last 10 years a lot of those memories are of traditional harvesting. I’ve been blessed to have lived with multiple First Nations and to have been invited to spend time with their communities on the land. I’ve learned histories and stories from across Turtle Island about food and food sovereignty—some happy stories and some heartbreaking ones.
I knew I wanted to create a book that talked about traditional food and incorporated some of those memories. My relationship with food has been complicated and I’ve spent a lot of my adult life learning to navigate that relationship with myself, while also working with many youth who struggle in similar ways. I wanted to move the narrative around food to show that the relationship with food isn’t as simple as eating—it is actually much more beautiful than simple biology, it is mnemonic, and it helps us to remember the stories of the land our food thrives on and of the people our food has sustained for generations.
For a lot of my life, I hated food and viewed it as the enemy, it was the thing I couldn’t control, and I saw it truly as my nemesis. But now I view food as such a beautiful gift that brings people together, teaches us, loves us, nourishes us, and sustains us. I wanted to create something that embodied that.
You’ve said that visiting with youth gives you hope for the future. Can you share more about what you've learned speaking and working with young people?
Oh gosh, I’m not sure I could sum it up. Working with youth hasn’t always been easy, it has challenged me in many ways. It has taught me patience, unconditional love, sacrifice, and community. It has been through working with young people that I have felt held in community in a way I never had before. They have become some of my biggest supporters and I am so grateful to have been on this journey.
Honestly, I think the biggest thing I’ve learned from them is how to believe in myself. Without their encouragement I wouldn’t have a single book out in the world, let alone four. Through the eyes of the youth in my life I have learned that I am worthy of my dreams. It is because they believe in me that I can believe in myself too.
Willie Poll will be touring as part of Canadian Children's Book Week 2025. Keep up to date with her latest books by following @willieandpugdolife on Instagram.
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Written by Spencer Miller