Native American Books

I used this novel with my high school English class last fall. I teach in an urban environment where kids are reluctant to read, period. But I found that the students were REALLY into it. I had students who I suspect never read, reading it and telling me so. They kept saying, all year, "can't we read another novel like Mollyockett?".

It is told in flashback by the title character, Mollyockett, a medicine woman/weaver/wanderer, the last of her nation, the Peqwackets. She tells the story to a young English settler, Sarah. As she loses strength, Sarah tends to her and listens to her stories. For the most part, she tells the story chronologically... and she has an interesting life. Pat Stewart weaves the stories together seemlessly so that nothing seems forced or strange. If anything, she makes the reader want to know more about the real story.

We were lucky to be able to host the author at our school and she captivated the kids. Mostly, they wanted to know about Native American Medicine practices, since they were studying that as part of their unit, but many wanted to know how she actually wrote the story; she told them about the process of researching the history and making up parts she didn't know about. I still think some of the students had a hard time realizing that the story was based on the life of a real person!

It is rare to find historical, fictionalized accounts of Native Americans, and even rarer to find ones about Abenaki or any other New England Native American groups.

Anyway, I highly recommend this novel to teachers to use in their classrooms, but also to anyone who likes historical "fiction"... uhm, fictionalized history?

Basically, when we read fiction (or as in this case, fictionalized history), we want a story...the kind of story that in early times would have kept us listening to the storyteller until the tale was completely told. Pat Stewart's device, letting Mollyockett, the last of the Pequawkets, tell the story of her long life in the white man's world is just this kind of tale. It is clear that the author has carefully researched the life and times of her real-life character and that Mollyockett's story is based in fact. However, by taking some poetic license Stewart has been able to breathe life into Mollyockett, going beyond the facts and fleshing out the personal qualities and skills of this unusual woman. The result is a series of well-told tales that are revealing of both the storyteller's life and character, informative of the Native American history of New England, and revealing of the ambiguity of the French and Indian Wars. Avoiding the pitfalls of using any vernacular, Stewart has Mollyockett speak clear, almost poetic language. A storyteller herself, Stewart has faithfully produced a character that spins her own stories with a compelling, yet gentle voice that absorbs the reader. I recommend this book to readers of all ages who like good stories about real people and events that really happened.

In just 163 pages, Pat Stewart tells the story of Mollyockett, an Abenaki Indian woman who lived most of her life in the hilly country of western Maine. (Or, rather, bedridden in her final days and hours, Mollyocket tells her own story to a ficticious young gift descended from one of Andover, Maine's, first settlers).
What a remarkable story she tells--a tale of the struggle between native people and settlers, a story of this strong woman's own deep apirituality and faith.
Even the book design is distinctive, modeled after a purse which Mollyockett wove and which now belongs to the Maine Historical Society.
I recommend this slim, creative and engaging book as a fine way to meet one of our country's native ancestors.

From the DJ: A terrible monster is plaguing the Anasazi villages of the Southwest's canyon country, so much so that the villagers are afraid to plant their crops. Who will same them from this monster's wrath? The Twins, twelve-year-old sons of Changing Woman, respond to the villagers' cries for help and decide to seek out and destroy this monster, the Walking Giant. Armed with lightning arrows - gifts from their father - and magic feathers, they set out to defeat their enemy, and become heroes of the people in so doing. Immortalized for centuries through the oral storytelling tradition, the Twins now come alive on the pages of this colorful book, a partial recreation of the traditional Navajo story, retold and illustrated by two talented Navajo people.

I liked this book because it was very nice and somehow funny. Mostly I liked the characters in the sroty and what they did to save their village. It is a great book for all ages to read and I enjoyed reading it. I hope everyone that read this book will enjoy it as much as I did.

This was one of the first pieces that Bahe and Vee worked on together. Bravo! I am in awe of Bahe's illustrations and captured by Vee's words. Being a Native American, I can see and read the vision of the two's colaborative work and how they both echo each others impressions of this traditional Navajo story. It should be a part of our childrens plate of literature to consume prior to going to the Euro-Classics.

IntroductionCall from the Old OnesTHE WEST--Invocation--From the Old Ones--Crossroads: Movement into Change--West Exercises I. Born of Water II. Tears of Water--West Visualization: The Sea Journey--The Silver Thread I: The Story of Sea--The West Ritual: Hecate--West Invocation ChantTHE NORTH--Invocation--From the Old Ones--Crossroads: Movement into Power--North Exercises: I. Into the Silence II. Holding a Mountain III. Into the Dark--North Visualization: The Heart of the Mountain--THe Silver Thead II. The Story of Night--the NOrth Ritual: The Ancients--North Invocation and ChantsTHE EAST--Invocation--From the OLd Ones--Crossroads: Movement into Vision--East Exercises: I. Beginnings II. Faces of the Altar--East Visualization--The Silver THread III: The Story of Little Bird--East Ritual: Taking Flight--East Invocation and ChantsTHE SOUTH--Invocation--From the Old Ones--Crossroads: Movement into Voice--South Exercises: I. Mirrors II. Rage III. Palms Upward IV. Cirle Energy--South Visualization: Between the Flames--Siraling OUtward into Power: From the Old Ones--THe Silver Thread IV. The Story of Rabbit--South RItual: Boices in the Fire--South Invocation and ChantsAPPENDIX--Ritual--Suggested RItual Structure--CLearing--Grounding and Centering--Smudging--Casting a Circle with Stones--Casting a Circle without Stones--Invocation--THe Story--Chants--Dramatization--Empowerment--Returning Stones--Grounding at the End of a Ritual--Opening the Circle--CelebrationTHE OFFERINGNOTES

Eclipse had written a wonderful book here. She takes us on a "Mystical Passage" around the sacred circle.There are four sections, one for each cardinal direction and an index explaining the basics of ritual.each sections starts with a beautiful poetic invocation to the direction. it follows with a page on the tradional wisdom of that direction. a short section describing the authors personal journey in that direction follows in "crossroads" then the author gives some really wonderful excercises to attune with the direction and its corresponding element. (tradional western european magical correspondances are used). then there is a visualization (guided meditation) on the direction/element.Each section also contains a marvelous portion of a "children's story" called "The Silver THread" although this story is good for children it will also speak to your own inner child.Then comes a full ritual, to be performed alone or with others, that incorporates the knowledge gained earlier in the section. the chapter is ended with An Invocation to an appropriate Goddess and chants for that direction. The Goddesses used are west-Hekate, North-Persepone, East-Athena, and South-Brighid.I think this is a wonderful book for alighning with the directions and is full of wisdom that you won't find in any other book. i highly reccomend it!!ps. the book has four beautiful color illustrations by the author that are worth the price of the book. black and white illustrations by the author are throughout

Moon in Hand is a guide through the mysteries of life, death and rebirth. Weaving a web of rituals, story and meditation that invoke the sacred in our own journey. I have referred to this book many times in the 4 years I have owned it. It has helped me to bring the energies of the directions and the wisdom of the ancestors into my own life and the lives of those I meet with in circle. The Moon in Hand is a valuable resource for anyone looking to make a stronger connection to spirit and work more closely with the earth. Eclipe's personal stories of her own journey combined with poetry, illustrations, invocations and practical step by step exercises and ritual make this a book I would and HAVE recommend to those who are looking to grow, transform and stand in their power.

I just finished "Moon of the Falling Leaves" by Diane Davis White, and I am amazed. It is obvious that Ms White did a lot of research for this western novel. To emphasize something in the story, she'll use a word from the Lakota Sioux dialog and than transparently fit the explanation into the story. It takes a real talent to accomplish that without breaking the rhythm.
"Moon of the Falling Leaves" is about a widow, Jessica, stranded with four children in the Rocky Mountains, and the Lakota Sioux warrior that finds them. Swift Eagle has many reasons to hate white people, but a dream tells him to befriend the family. He knows a blizzard is imminent so he moves them into an abandoned cabin. Rather than let them starve, he teaches the children and Jessica how to survive.
Swift Eagle slowly wins Jessica's heart and the devotion of her children, but another dream shows Jessica standing with a white man. Swift Eagle knows he must take her back to her people: their love is not meant to be. When he takes the family to a town, Jessica falls into the hands of unscrupulous people. What will happen to Jessica, her family, and Swift Eagle? You'll have to buy the book to find out.
This is a very talented writer who can spin words to create an earlier time. She will take you back to 1870 and keep you spellbound the entire novel. Diane weaves personality into her characters until you seem to know them, and the romance between Jessica and Swift Eagle slowly builds to a climax
It takes real talent to write a believable novel about 1870, but Diane White pulls it off without a problem. Can you tell that I really loved this novel?

Sure loved this one. It was moving, and hit me in the heart. I loved each of of the people in the story Jessica Swift Eagle and her wonderful children Jeremy, Freddie, Grace, Samuel, new baby John, and the rest of the great cast that makes up this book. From the being, it has you. I know people who love stories of the Indian getting the girl are going to adore it. My late Grandma would have love this.Was her favorite type of story to read.

Diane Davis White has penned a true story of survival. I really like the Fact that the author uses many Lakota phrases that she translates immediately into English. This story moves very quickly, you love the hero Swift Eagle who, is a Lakota Shaman from the beginning and can immediately empathize with Jessica Maxwell, the heroine who is a white woman. Swift Eagle helps out the Maxwell Family when the father dies leaving the helpless mother and children stranded in the unforgiving Rocky Mountains with what could be a deadly winter looming ahead. How does the little family survive? You will just have to buy this delightful book to find out you will not be disappointed. I look forward to reading more from this talented author.

Every once in a while a book is written that changes everything. THE MORNING THE SUN WENT DOWN is one of those books. This autobiography written by Darryl Babe Wilson about his Achomawi/Atsugewi (Pit River) childhood in northeastern California is filled with wonder and lyrical beauty, and at the same time with painful tragedy and brutality. This is the masterful recounting of a personal journey that enfolds us warmly in a child eye's view of Wilson's family and tribal relations, as well as the intrinsic and permanent relationship with the land in its ancient and essential dimensions. This book is simultaneously literature, an autobiography and the history of a People. It is highly recommended.//This is a portion of the review by Susan Lobo that will appear in the journal NATIVE AMERICAS (Cornell)

Every once in a while a book is written that changes everything. This is one of those books. This autobiography written by Darryl Babe Wilson about his Achomawi/Atsugewi (Pit River) Indian childhood in northern California is filled with wonder and lyrical beauty, and at the same time with painful tragedy and brutality. This is the masterful recounting of a personal journey that enfolds us warmly in a child eye's view ofWilson'sfamily and tribal relations, as well as the intrinsic and permanent relationship with theland in its ancient and essential dimensions. This book is simultaneously literature, an autobiography and the history of a People. Thebook begins with a dream in which Wilson is tested and reminded by the Elders of his responsibility to his People. It combines observations both minute and practical with those that sweepinglyencompass infinate place and time, understood both by the heart and mind. We are deftly drawn into a world that is simultaneously rugged and sweet. The family tragedy, the death of his mother and baby brother, and the subsequent family separation are described in wrenching detail, mirroring and paralleling the descriptions of historic events resulting from the lethal coming of whites into his homeland following the discovery of gold in California. Wilson places us, as readers, in a spot that is at the same time ancient, historical and contemporary. This is a story of growingself-assurance and human understanding as Wilson matures and comes to see the world from a broader vision, as well as his place and potential role within that world. He says, "...we must seek a power or a series of powers outside of ourselves which we identify as 'helpers.' Helpers can be a tree or animals, rocks or mountains, stars or flowers, frogs or rainbows. Helpers come to us in our time of need, and they guide our dreams." This book is utlimately the story of strength and power. Near the end of the book, he says, "For it was a song, according to our narratives, that caused all of the universe to have a beginning. We must seek within ourselves the spiritual terrain from our watu/ah'lo (spiritual umbilical cord) to the Great Power, cultivating our personal power and creating wholesomeness with our thoughts and intentions...It is taught in our lessons and legends, and by our Elders, that The People are responsible for life upon earth. Honoring the lessons then becomes a mandate from Great Power/GReat Wonder/Great Spirit that we are bound to obey. All people must obey the Great Law, so the sweetness of life can continue."

from "Kirkus Reviews" (starred review): A slim, modest, and altogether extraordinary memoir of rural Native American life. Wilson, a poet and scholar from the Achumawe and Atsugewi tribes of northeastern California, came into adolescence in the mid-1950s, when his people had all but disappeared through assimilation or extermination. Blame for part of that disappearance he lays squarely at the door of whites; but, he adds, "the neglect of our Elders to teach us our traditions was equally damaging." His own parents did their best to teach Wilson and his siblings something of the old ways: how to hunt deer, how to tame rattlesnakes, how to listen for mountain lions, lessons that he imparts to his readers with precision and grace- and not a little humor. But when his mother and younger brother were killed in a collision with a logging truck, Wilson was sent off to live with white foster parents among unfriendly neighbors (he remembers, touchingly, one young girl "who did not accuse me with her eyes or attitude," principally "because we were not enemies"). Whe it appeared that his foster parents wanted to strip away his Indian identity, Wilson rebelled, for which he was sent off to a boarding school where the young California Indian charges were locked in their rooms at nights and punished by day for minor infractions. Wilson recounts these horros matter-of-factly but doesn't dwell on them; instead, he celebrates a teacher who sagely corrected his compositions, encouraged him to improve himself, and urged him to become a writer. Readers have reason to be grateful to that teacher as well. Wilson is a careful and compassionate obeserver of his life and those of other young Indians, and his book is a fine addition to the growing library of Native American autobiography.

"Muskrat Will Be Swimming" is the inspiring story of a native American girl who, with the gentle guidance of her grandfather, learns to find strength in her identity as a native American living in the broader American society. Elegantly illustrated by Robert Hynes, "Muskrat Will Be Swimming" also includes the Seneca creation story and demonstrates how such ancient tales of native American cultures can be utilized to help children find their way in the world. Author Cheryl Savageau has written a superb story that will entertain and inspire young readers in grades 3 through 6. Enhanced with a 'Teachers Take Note' section devoted to suggestions for activities and thematically appropriate resources, "Muskrat Will Be Swimming" is an award winning and very strongly recommended addition to elementary school and community library picturebook collections.

I am the author of Muskrat Will Be Swimming. Thank you to everyone who's contacted me about getting a copy. MUSKRAT will be republished by Tilbury Books in Spring, 2006, in paperback. Look for it!

I love this book and so does my six year old son. Very sensitively deals with namecalling. The young girl's grandfather sees that she is upset and by telling her a native amercian tale helps her find pride in her heritage and herself. Weaves together the present day story of the girl with the folktale very well.

"Muskrat Will Be Swimming" is the inspiring story of a native American girl who, with the gentle guidance of her grandfather, learns to find strength in her identity as a native American living in the broader American society. Elegantly illustrated by Robert Hynes, "Muskrat Will Be Swimming" also includes the Seneca creation story and demonstrates how such ancient tales of native American cultures can be utilized to help children find their way in the world. Author Cheryl Savageau has written a superb story that will entertain and inspire young readers in grades 3 through 6. Enhanced with a 'Teachers Take Note' section devoted to suggestions for activities and thematically appropriate resources, "Muskrat Will Be Swimming" is an award winning and very strongly recommended addition to elementary school and community library picturebook collections.

I am the author of Muskrat Will Be Swimming. Thank you to everyone who's contacted me about getting a copy. MUSKRAT will be republished by Tilbury Books in Spring, 2006, in paperback. Look for it!

I love this book and so does my six year old son. Very sensitively deals with namecalling. The young girl's grandfather sees that she is upset and by telling her a native amercian tale helps her find pride in her heritage and herself. Weaves together the present day story of the girl with the folktale very well.

Yoram Binur, an Israeli journalist fluent in Arabic from covering stories in the Arab areas of his country, decided to take on a fake identity as an Arab to get first-hand experience of the treatment Arabs receive from the Israeli police and society. He was convincing enough to be singled out for harassment and violence from the police, and he experienced subtle discrimination from everyday Israelis. He learned to really feel the terror Arabs in Israel feel every time an army vehicle approaches them, or even passes by their house at night, knowing they could legally be brutalized at any time for no reason. It was an eye-opening account from inside one of the most complex political situations on earth, and Binur always kept it personal and involving.

This is an incredible book. Yoram Binur provides an entirely new perspective to an old issue. The depth of maltreatment of Arab Palestinians in Israel has not been put into such a consise, unobstructed manner in the history of literature. Anyone who is interested in educating themselves about the Civil and Moral Rights violations which are taking place in Israel should definately read this book. Any advocate of justice, any person concerned with the fact that there are people being horribly mistreated anywhere in the world, and anyone looking for a cause to support or solidarity to offer those who are oppressed should start with this book.

It's funny how some books, no matter how well written or well balanced, still get attacked for what they present us.

Yoram Binur is a Jew who speaks Arabic and can pass for a Palestinian. As a journalist he decides to enter into that world to see how the other half lives. What he sees and feels cannot be debated, negated, ignored or even criticized. It just is.

What Yoram experienced was an everyday existance of discrimination from the Jewish Isrealies he encountered. He wasn't brutally attacked or beaten or spit upon at every corner. No, his story is far more subtle. What he describes is a life of an outcast, of what it feels like to be someone who's viewed as "less than," as the "other."

The routine details of this life are in fact some of the most important in the current debate about the situation in Israel. What Binur experiences is essentially the seed that has helped bring about the larger forms of violence with each side upping the ante. It doesn't start with a bulldozer destroying a Palestinian home. And it doesn't start with a Palestinian bombing a sidewalk cafe and killing a dozen innocent civilians. It starts with everyday hatred - and that's what Binur so clearly gives us.

We already know that some (not all) Palestinians refuse Israel's right to exist. What we need, as Americans who have blindly supported Israel no matter what it does, is to see how some Israelis (not all) haves refused the Palestinians a right to their homeland - and their dignity. Binur's book is a step in the right direction in learning that lesson.

This was shipped to my grandson Tim as a gift. He is studying Aztec history & language. He was very pleased. K. Russell

This book provides a fantastic introduction to Nahuatl. The book provides excellent explanations of Nahuatl grammar and uses, from the very start, (as promised) a large number of examples of sentences or phrases to illustrate the grammatical points covered in each lesson.

The book is intended to be an introduction covering the major points of Nahuatl grammar. A few actual texts are provided in the back for work upon completion of the lessons, and there are a few complex and esoteric topics in grammar that Lockhart leaves the reader to investigate with the help of Horacio Carochi's Grammar (available in the dual-language edition translated and annotated by Lockhart).

Together with Carochi's grammar, this book should prepare the student for reading Nahuatl texts.

This book would be more readable for an accomplished student of Linguistics. It has many details that are barriers for the beginner in study of Nahuatl but is a very complete exposition of subtle grammatical processes that are not even approached in other grammars.

I am happy that it is part of my library and expect that it will assist me as I continue to learn the language.

This book is an incredible account of the life and times of Mary Jemison, a white woman taken captive during the French and Indian War and adopted into the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois in western New York. This tale covers her more than 70 years living among them through many of the most vital years of the long history of the Iroquois Confederacy.

In November 1823, when she was in her 80s, Mary Jemison, at the urging of many of the friendly local inhabitants, gave her amazing life story to James Seaver to publish for posterity. Though his truthfulness in some details of that account has often been called into question, this book is one of the most important and complete of any of the Indian captivity narratives to come out of the period between the French and Indian War and the War of 1812, which most historians mark as the end of the period of influence of the Eastern Woodland tribes. This account gives unequalled insight into the Seneca Indians and their ways including religion, food, hunting, warfare, culture, etc.

Mary had many opportunities to leave the Indians and return to white civilization but chose not to do so and thus was witness to some of the most amazing events in the history of her adopted people. Her tale is important to not only historians and ethnologists, but to the general public itself as it is a truly amazing story of triumph and tragedy for a proud people struggling to survive in the face of overwhelming odds as a young United States continued to expand, forever extinguishing their way of life.

The narrative is fascinating reading, both in terms of the history revealed in the words of Mary Jemison and in terms of James Seaver who gives us his own version of her story. The effect is a layering of historical periods. With the help of the editing, you can peer through and see not only the period of Mary Jemison's captivity, but also the prejudices of the following time. An interesting example of the simultaneous respect and loathing with which the early settlers viewed the native inhabitants. I first read the narrative in high school, and would recommend it for young and old readers alike.

They say if you visit New York State you will find her descendants; many native-americans have her last name. Taken captive; her parents killed - Mary becomes part of a native-american family. She married a Delaware (Lenape) warrior, with whom she was very content and has many children. This is a dramatic, true story, told in her own words. She is in her 80's, and reminisces about her unusual life.