Origin - by Nat Cardozo (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Profiles of 22 indigenous children and their communities from around the world"--

Book Synopsis

​● California Reading Association Gold Award Winner
● A 2026 Notable Social Studies Trade Books Award Winner
Portraits of Indigenous children and their communities from around the world in a stunning presentation emphasizing community and a connection to the land and the environment
We are all one. We all inhabit the same planet, and we all have a common human origin.
This is the core theme of this important book. Each double-page spread presents a contemporary and fascinating look at more than 20 Indigenous peoples from across the globe. These first nations were the first humans to inhabit their territories, which are under threat today from "civilization" that seeks to profit from them and their lands.
In these societies, a sense of community life prevails, based on reciprocity, solidarity, mutual aid, avoiding excess, and honoring what nature provides. Indigenous peoples are also the guardians of 80 percent of terrestrial biodiversity--they are the first conservationists of the natural environment.
Franco-Uruguayan author Nat Cardozo has created a unique book with beautiful illustrations that blur the lines between humans and their environment and present a wide variety of ways of life from little-known cultures. In addition to collecting 22 first-person stories, this informative book is about the past and present of Indigenous peoples, recounting a long history of struggle and resistance and of defense--not only of their territories but also of their languages and traditional ways of life.
This book provides a unique opportunity to acknowledge our common origin and reflect on how we might create a new unity for humanity to reconnect us to living things and bind us together again as one.

Native tribes featured in the book are from all five continents and include: !Kung, Orang Rimba, Inuit, Tuareg, Moken, Anangu, Bijago, Evenki, Bribri, Cherokee, Mosuo, Uru Chipaya, Tz'utujil, Ngati Hau, Wayuu, Q'ero, Sami, Mbuti, Juchiteca, Gitxsan, Dongria Kondh, Yanomami

Review Quotes

"An arrestingly artful compendium of 22 first-person portraits including children from Indigenous cultures across the globe, this meticulously researched book invites readers to reflect on our common origin as Earthlings inhabiting the same delicate home. Each spread presents a contemporary and historical glimpse into the ways of an Indigenous group, such as Inuit or Cherokee peoples, alongside arresting illustrations that intentionally blur lines between humans and the landscapes that sustain them. Young readers will come to understand the subjects' prevailing values--reciprocity, solidarity, avoiding excess, and honoring all that nature provides. It all makes for a provocative invitation to reflect on how we might better unite humanity and protect our remaining biodiversity (about 80 percent of which occurs on Indigenous-managed lands)."

--Sierra Club Magazine

​● California Reading Association Gold Award Winner

A 2026 Notable Social Studies Trade Books Award Winner

--National Council for the Social Studies and Children's Book Council

About the Author

Nat Cardozo is an Illustrator and workshop facilitator specializing in editorial illustration. She is a graduate of the School of Design and Illustration in Barcelona, Spain. She has had her work featured in exhibitions in Uruguay, Mexico, Spain, and Argentina. She has won several major awards for children's book illustration. Born in France to Uruguayan refugees, Cardozo now lives and works as a freelance illustrator along the coast from Montevideo, Uruguay.