Two Old Women

Velma Wallis and her mother were chopping wood at the mouth of the Porcupine River, where it flows into the Yukon, when Wallis first heard the legend of the Two Old Women - an elderly pair's "journey into hardship." Passed from mothers to daughters for many generations, the ancient story of abandonment is tragic and shocking but comes with a surprise that will lighten your heart. In 1993, Velma Wallis's retelling of the legen in book form challenged her people's oral traditions and revealed old taboos, yet revealed universal themes. Ten years after the first edition, Two Old Women has been translated into seventeen languages, sellingmore than one million copies. Today, the legend is still being passed between mother and daughter, and from sister to sister, with its hopeful lesson for us all.