RICH TEXTS: CHILDREN OF THE STARS

I confess that, much to my shame, I knew zero about the Pawnee Nation until I came across Walter Echo-Hawk's THE SEA OF GRASS: A FAMILY TALE FROM THE AMERICA HEARTLAND. An attorney, writer, and activist, Echo-Hawk is one of the rare Americans who can rightly claim that his ancestral roots in the New World reach back to 1250. The fictionalized history of his Pawnee family's presence in America, is an inspiring exploration of these roots. It is an account that begins with a meeting between a lost, starving Pawnee boy and a wolf. Separated from his companions, the boy is near death when the wolf rescues him and blesses him with the power to live,

"Wherever you go, you will never get lost or starve. Like a wolf, you will always find something to eat and find your way back home. This is the power to survive. Your people will need it in the years ahead. Remember me—and you will be taken care of, no matter what. "

That power was greatly needed by the Pawnee as war with larger tribes such as the Lakota, famine, and invasions by Europeans who wantonly destroyed buffalo herds and who brought with them deadly infectious diseases so reduced their numbers that by 1850 a population of 10 000 had dwindled to 4000. Forced dislocation to Oklahoma from the Loup, Republican and south Platte river areas, in Nebraska and Kansas, further reduced that number to 2 700.

Although the journey the reader takes under Echo-Hawk's deft guidance is not free of sorrow, as the Pawnee have their land taken away, their traditions fractured, their children subjected to enforced acculturation, what shines through is the strength and faith that make survival possible. But this is not a grim story. It is a story that includes lyricism, cosmology, humor, feminism, subtle political jabs, a compact between human and nature, faith, tradition, and the hard-earned pride of a people who served their country well in war and peace. While reading it, I learned that the Pawnee is a matrilineal nation-- its first chapter honors Echo-Hawk's ancestor Calico Woman--and I loved the charming Pawnee legend of how horses came into being. The heavenly legend about the origin of the Pawnee, who call themselves Children of the Stars, moved me and made me wish more people would learn Echo-Hawk's people.

There are only a couple of minor quibbles I have about the text--two or three typos and the lack of a Pawnee glossary. Neither limits the pleasure of reading this long overdue contribution to the history of Native Americans.