7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga by David A. Robertson
A haunting, beautiful graphic novel, with illustrations by Scott B. Henderson
A typical tourist reaction on seeing ancient hieroglyphics is, “Ooo, how charmingly primitive.” Accompanied, inevitably, by a superior smile. After all, we in the present day, with our printed materials, are long past mere drawings.
But, as David A. Robertson argues in the 15th-anniversary reissue of his graphic novel 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga, drawings are invaluable: “The artwork of our ancestors gives us a glimpse into how they walked through the world.”
In a short, impactful space, pictures can evoke the equivalent of dense pages of words. That said, the impact of a picture worth 1,000 (or more) words may not always be positive. Robertson, a member of the Norway House Cree Nation, recalls how, as a kid, he read many comics featuring “stereotypes of Indigenous characters, false and negative colonial perspectives.” As a result, his youthful self-esteem plummeted.
With 7 Generations, Robertson set out to help rectify those stereotypes with more accurate portrayals of Indigenous people: “Becoming a comics writer allowed me to break down the walls erected on a shaky foundation of lies and ignorance and lay a new foundation upon which something better could be built.”
The novel, recommended for ages 15-18, begins in 2010. Having tried to commit suicide, teen-aged Edwin is lying on his bed. Right away the brilliance of illustrator Scott B. Henderson is, forgive the pun, sharply evident: the panel containing the illustration has shatter marks, reflecting Edwin’s emotional state. Just in time Mom calls 911, and off Edwin goes to the hospital.
From the note Edwin left before his botched suicide, we understand his unhappiness. For one thing, his dad was abusive. Now, in the hospital, Mom urges Edwin not to fear and hate the past. On the contrary, “knowing where you came from helps you understand where you are”—which indeed is a major theme of the story.
Mom guides Edwin through flashbacks to the lives and challenges of their ancestors. In the early 1800s, via suddenly brighter, more hopeful illustrations, we meet dynamic Stone. The young man is about to embark on vision quest—that is, a search for spiritual guidance, involving fasting and pain to cleanse the body and mind. Stone has a nighttime vision, both daunting and inspiring, of a huge, luminous eagle. He awakes to find a rock in the shape of the eagle’s head and beak in his hand.
Stone will need the strength embodied in this amulet. His brother dies in battle, causing him to despair. Then the brother’s spirit appears, rich and blue as the river they’re beside. “Life is fluid like the river,” he counsels Stone. “Each of us is a ripple, then gone.”
Learning about Stone, Edwin has the sensation of being in “gentle waves, of being saved,” but he also fears drowning. More flashbacks, more evocative illustrations, and now Edwin’s seeing his 1870 ancestors, dying of the smallpox brought to the Plains courtesy European colonists. Readers of any age, brace yourselves: Robertson and Henderson don’t flinch from realism. Their depiction of the sickly, heavily pocked victims is gruesome.
One ancestor, White Cloud, survives. Echoing the earlier shattered panel, Henderson achieves a similar effect by having White Cloud flee through a forest of thin, shard-like tree trunks.
Via these and other ancestral stories, we travel alongside Edwin on his journey. As a quest for truth, the journey is disturbing—but also liberating. In her afterword, Cherie Dimaline observes that 7 Generations “brings the reader along through generations and into lives lived by vibrant, brilliant people trying not just to survive but to truly live.”
About the Author
A two-time Governor General’s Literary Award winner, David A. Robertson writes for children and adults, as well as being a podcaster, public speaker, and social advocate. David has also won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Writers’ Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award. Honoured with a Doctor of Letters from the University of Manitoba in 2023 and a Doctor of Laws from the University of Lethbridge in 2025, he is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and lives in Winnipeg.
About the Illustrator
A graduate of the University of Manitoba School of Fine Art, Scott B. Henderson had his first commissioned work in 2008, followed by 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga. Scott has since illustrated more than 20 comics and graphic novels, working with Indigenous writers, and helping others to get their stories to a wider audience. He lives in Winnipeg; the Treaty 1 territory, traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples; and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.
About the Reviewer
Melanie Jackson is a freelance Vancouver writer/editor. She’s also the award-winning author of middle-grade/YA suspensers, including Orca Books’ Dinah Galloway Mystery Series, and several chillers set in amusement parks. Visit Melanie’s page at The Writers’ Union of Canada.
Book Details
Publisher: Highwater Press
Publication date: September 2, 2025
Language: English
Paperback: 144 pages
ISBN: 9781774920619