Walking My Ancestors’ Path

A Collection of Paintings and Stories Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik Available September 2026 Minnesota Historical Society Press Description 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 landscapes, 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. Author Information Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik, a direct descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, lives in Duluth, Minnesota. Manidoo Ma’iingan is an educator and language specialist living in Minnesota. Advanced Praise “I admire an artist who develops a consistent style and subject but whose work remains fresh. Sam Zimmerman’s nature paintings do just that; his silhouettes shimmer with internal radiance or spectral lights, recalling the finest beadwork.” —Carl Gawboy (Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe), author and illustrator of Fur Trade Nation: An Ojibwe’s Graphic History “Sam Zimmerman’s Walking My Ancestors’ Path is a luminous work honoring the deep connections between land, spirit, and story. His vibrant, beadwork-like paintings invite readers into a world where animals, waters, and skies are relatives. With eloquent Ojibwemowin translations by Manidoo Ma’iingan, the book becomes a bridge between language, memory, and place.” —Anton Treuer, author of Where Wolves Don’t Die and The Cultural Toolbox: Traditional Ojibwe Living in the Modern World “Walking My Ancestors’ Path by Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik is a gorgeous collection of engaging Woodlands style paintings, personal and familial memoir, cultural memory, and the complex dance of an artist balancing his own space between English and Ojibwemowin, including both. The arc of seasons informs Zimmerman’s work, along with constant lunar cycles, images illuminated with symbols both universal and deeply personal. This engrossing, rich volume welcomes us to witness one intersection of time and memory, allowing us to glimpse this singular artistic spirit and its place in the universe.”—Eric Gansworth Sˑha-weñ na-saeˀ (Onondaga, Eel Clan), author of Apple (Skin to the Core) Hardcover 192 pages 9 in H | 10 in W ISBN: 978-1-68134-344-0