Novel Neighbor: Antoinette Cavanaugh

From Educator to Author: The Story Behind Tammi’ Tetevini,
“Ne Hakkanai Kimmakante?” Little Brother Asks, “Where did I come From?”

I never really set out to become an author. My journey to become a published author grew from a lifetime devoted to education, family and my Western Shoshone heritage. I was born and raised on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, home of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, and attended schools in Owyhee Ruby Valley, Wells and Elko. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English-Secondary Education from Boise State University, I returned to Owyhee to teach. Earning a master’s degree in educational administration and higher education, led me into a career in school administration, district leadership, then after retirement, educational consulting. I returned to graduate school at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2023, to pursue doctoral studies in Human Development and Family Science. It was there that an unexpected part of my academic journey began—becoming an author.

During the fall 2024 semester, I had enrolled in Children and Families in a Multiethnic Society. As a final graduate requirement, I was challenged to develop a “You Can Change the World” project that could expand understanding of cultural histories or ways of living. I realized that I had carried a story with me for many years that could convey Western Shoshone ways of knowing, grounded in cultural practices and family socialization. That story became the bilingual children’s book, Tammi tetevini, “Ne Hakkanai Kimmakante?”

What began as a class assignment soon became something much more meaningful. As I wrote the story from memory, I realized that English alone could not adequately express the meanings embedded within Shoshoni family relationships, cultural practice, and relationships with the natural world. I decided that a Shoshone story written by a Shoshone author should also be told in the Shoshoni language. 

Developing the bilingual text became a collaborative process with my husband, Norman. Together, we carefully examined words, suffixes, phrases, and layers of meaning to convey relationships, and often consulted the Western Shoshoni Grammar (Crum and Dayley, 1993) to verify the orthography. In working together with Shoshoni language strengthened our own literacy and deepened the cultural dimensions of the story. Collaboration with the illustrator and graphic designer—both northern Nevadans further brought Tammi’s world to life. The illustrations reflect the landscapes of Nevada and its expansive nighttime skies, creating a visual sense of place while connecting Tammi’s journey to the land and natural world that surrounds him.  

At its simplest level, the book tells the story of a young boy asking, “Ne hakkanai kimmakante?—Where Did I Come From?” Beneath that question are deeper teachings about extended family, seeking knowledge from elders, cultural identity, and understanding one’s relationship with the natural world. 

For me, becoming an author has become another extension of being an educator. My hope is that Tammi provides a resource for using the Shoshoni language in homes, schools, and libraries while helping carry our language, stories, and ways of knowing forward for another generation. 

American Indigenous Tourism selected Tammi to be included on the  “2026 Books We Love” list.

To purchase: Antoinette-cavanaugh.square.site