About the Author
Bringing Kumi to life has been a long process
for author, Antoinette Sarcinella. Her heritage of mixed
Native American and Celtic blood has combined to give her an understanding
of life from two paths. Her Native American roots come from her maternal
grandfather, Hunkpapa Lakota and Assiniboine, who was born at Wood Mountain
Reserve in Canada in 1899.
Wolf and Owl Remember is her first book.
Taking her story telling lessons from her mother, an award winning news
reporter in Southern California, she has reached into her own past to bring
Wolf, Owl and Kumi to life. As her own children were growing up they often
heard the ancient legends and stories that are the basis for Wolf and Owl’s
journey through time and space.
Although she is widely recognized as a talented storyteller, the author's background ranges from her work as a deputy sheriff to crime prevention consultant to child advocate. Now retired, she lives in Payson, Arizona. She still consultants regularly on drug and alcohol education and prevention programs for youth development organizations nationwide. She is best known for developing MethSMART, a methamphetamine education and prevention program utilized by Boys & Girls Clubs across the United States.
About the Illustrator
Joseph Wolves Kill’s bloodline
comes directly from the Uto-Aztecan language family, the Comanche and the
Oglala Sioux Nation. A self-taught artist, he studied the work of many
artists in order to create his own powerful reflections on personal struggle
and spiritual harmony. His work is shown throughout the United States as
well as in Europe and Japan. Known for his imaginative range of subjects as
well as for historically accurate, uniquely contemporized images of nations,
tribes and families, Joseph works primarily, though not exclusively in oil
and acrylic.
Joseph currently lives in Tempe, Arizona where
he is an active member of both native and non-native communities. Images
from his art have been used to advertise and promote conferences with
organizations such as the Intertribal Council of Arizona, Arizona State
University’s Creative Writing Department, the Arizona Nurses’ Association
and Atlatl, National Native Arts Network. He is a mentor to many young
artists in the community, teaching young people through his work as an art
teacher for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale and other youth
groups throughout the community.