Gerald Vizenor, author of Dead Voices
"The many roads over more than a century come alive in a generous mosaic of memories, philosophies, and cultures."
Book Description
"I've traveled a lot of roads, but never alone. My relations are with me," says Billie McKenney, one of the matriarchs of the complex family of Choctaws searching for peace as the white world rapidly encroaches on their tribal land, politics, and values.
In her first collection of stories, Native American writer Devon A. Mihesuah chronicles the lives of several generations of a close-knit Choctaw family as they are forced from their traditional homeland in 19th-century Mississippi and endure unspeakable sorrows during their journey before settling in southeastern Oklahoma.
Unfolding through the voices and actions of family members, confused half-bloods, and unlikely heroes--not all of them living or even human--the stories tell of the horrors of forced removal, the turbulence of post Civil War Indian Territory, the terrifying violence suffered at the hands of immortal Crow witches, and the family's ultimate survival against forces of evil. Time-traveling ghosts, mysterious medicine men, and eerie shape-shifters share the pages with proud matriarchs, mischievous schoolgirls, and loving siblings. Together, these interwoven stories express the strength and persistence of a tribe whose identity and pride have survived the disruptions of colonialism.
