Walking My Ancestors' Path (A Collection of Paintings and Stories)

This compilation commemorates animal spirits ranging from bees to rainbow trout, from hummingbirds to wolves, and is illuminated with the vibrant flora and vivid hues of Minnesota’s beloved northland.

When Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik returned to the North Shore of Minnesota in the late 2010s, reconnecting with family and the rugged landscape unleashed his creativity: He completed eighty paintings in just a year. That artistic fervor was on display in his first book, Following My Spirit Home, published in 2022. If the works collected there celebrated reconvening with his family, the creative pace he has kept since further charts his devotion to the northland and his gratitude for the spirits who inhabit it. Walking My Ancestors’ Path features paintings and stories from this more recent productive and reflective period.

Arranged seasonally, these paintings in Zimmerman’s distinctive style evoke characteristic North Shore scenes, capture skyscapes and landscape, and highlight creatures whose spirits have connected with his own. The accompanying stories, many also retold in Ojibwemowin by Manidoo Ma’iingan, reflect on points of inspiration, emotional resonances, and everyday events in the artist’s life. A separate section, “To Tell a Story,” explores how this impulse links Zimmerman to generations of regional storytellers, including his cousin, writer Staci Lola Drouillard, who penned a foreword for this volume.

These lessons in acrylic and narrative celebrate Zimmerman’s connection to the northland and remind readers to cherish the healing power of nature.