The Garretts pull from their experieces from the "real world," as well as their healings and practical experience with the Cherokee to give us excellent starting points in helping ourselves and others. For such a thin book, there is a lot of advice hidden in the stories and accounts, if you know what to look for.

This book is wonderful!! It is written by two Cherokee men, father & son, who practice the Medicine. This is THE book to get for learning about Cherokee/Native spirituality and Medicine; as it gives some specifics in the 'how-to', and explains a lot.

The reader can sense that it was written out of love and respect for Cherokee heritage and the desire to share the beauty of The Way of Right Relationship. In a world filled with the sham of plastic books dedicated to the way of shamanism, Medicine of the Cherokee stands bright and clear.

You are given an understanding of the four sacred directions, animal totems, journeying, crystal vision, the way of the circle, the principle of noninterference and more. Father and son, J. T. Garrett and Michael Garrett, guide you along the path and at the same time give you the most important gift - the freedom to find your own path.

Whether you are researching Cherokee lineages or just wanting to be well informed on Cherokee history and culture, you need this book! I found it not only informative but compelling to read and so hard to put down that I read it completely by flashlight one night at a boy scout campout after getting the book from Amazon that day. WaDo Tony!

The search for your Native American genealogy will no longer be filled with road-blocks because of the information contained in this extremely well researched and easy to use book. With the tips, etc., contained within these pages, you now know where to turn when you thought it was hopeless. Also, you can also learn more about your Cherokee heritage as you continue your search. This book is invaluable.

I just rec'd the this book and after only flipping through just a few pages on my great grandmother's MCCLURE lines, I'm impressed! Not only am I looking forward to reading this book but I plan on using it for future reference, as I see a few made at the end of one of the chapters and I haven't even read thru it yet - and can not wait! Thank you Dr. Tony MCCLURE. You did your homework because you know your homework. Buy this book! You will not be disappointed!

Mandie has just been reunited with her mother and uncle, and the whole family is going to visit Mandie's Cherokee relatives, who greet her warmly.
But not everyone likes Mandie. Tisani, Mandie's cousin, is cold and distant. But he seems to make up for it when he invites Mandie, Sallie, and Joe to visit a cave with him.
There, Tisani leaves them as a joke. But the children discover something astounding!

What I really liked about this book is that Mandie was very forgiving towards Tisani, even though he got them in a lot of trouble. And I also like how that Tisani's joke was intended to prove that Mandie was not part Cherokee, but in the end she proved that she was!

This book tells a lot about Mandie's heritage. She learns about life in the past and how it was for her father to live.

The early Mandie adventures are some of the best in the series. This one is no exception! Mandie gets to meet Uncle Ned's family for the first time. She meets Morning Star, his wife; Sallie Sweetwater, his grandaughter; and Tsa'ni, Mandie's cousin. Tsa'ni leads Mandie and Sallie on an expedition into a cliffside. They find a treasure..and get lost! What follows brings a kidnapping, a new friend, and a fortune! This is one Mandie Adventure you don't want to miss!

All of the above and more. I found it to be educational and moving. Don't let the number of pages scare you. Large easy to read print. If you like historical fiction, romance, humor, adventure, surprises and just a plain good story this is a must read book. For me, an eye opening account of the truth of the white man's encroachment into a culture, a people and a land. We can't change the past but we can be changed by it. Read and learn.

My grandmother loved River Rising and said it was the "best book".

I am not Cherokee, or even Native American, but I have always felt an affinity with the Cherokee especially. The characters in your book came alive for me and I went on the Trail of Tears just as they did. I felt their sorrow and grief, their joys and triumphs, and felt as if I knew each one. A superbly written book!

The Journal of Jesse Smoke
If you like historical fiction then I think you should read The Journal of Jesse Smoke because it was very exciting. It was exciting when the soldiers came to take all the Indians away. I thought that was interesting because then a white man tried to steal a house when a soldier beat him up. Then they went to the fort. Many died. They called it the Trail of Tears.
The Journal of Jesse Smoke is about how the Cherokee and the Creek Indians have to live in forts. They think it is very unpleasant. Then a lot of Indians die. Most of them are very weak or and ill.
The soldiers wanted the Indian's land so they came and kicked them out. Some of the Indians refused to go so then the soldiers killed them. I thought that was very mean and sad.

11-19-2002
Amozon.com

If you like historical fiction, then I think you should read The Journal of Jesse Smoke because it was very exciting. It was exciting when the soldiers came to take all the Cherokee and Creeke Indians. I thought that was interesting because then a white man came trying to steal the house when a soilder beat up. Then, they went to a lot of forts. Many died. The Cherokee and Creeke Indians called that journey the Trail of Tears.
THE END

I LOVE Dear America and this was one of the best ones. I really learned a lot from it for my research topic the trail of tears.

Billy Keene and Will Striker, the main characters of Louis Owens' novel Nightland, are half-breed Cherokees living on failing ranches in New Mexico that their grandparents bought from the Mexican-Americans whose family had a grant from Spain [who took the land from Native Americans in the first place]. They're out hunting deer when a man [who we find out is of Pueblo Indian blood] falls from the sky and ends up skewered on a juniper tree. A suitcase full of money falls with him. Despite misgivings, Billy and Will keep the money. Then all hell breaks loose. Nightland is at heart a thriller, but as with Owens' other novels, it is also a musing on identity. Native American spirituality and the supernatural play a key role in the novel, so if suspension of disbelief is a problem for the potential reader, don't start this book. This is a much faster read than Bone Game and The Sharpest Sight. I found Nightland to be one of the highlights of my summer reading. Oh, and as if my opinion actually counted, I think Richard Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino should buy the rights to Nightland and make a movie. One of the pieces of sad news from this summer was that Louis Owens had taken his own life. He left us five great novels, including Nightland.

A body falls from the sky in the dry New Mexico wilds. Two native American ranchers sight the mysterious image and set off to find it. Nearby to the body impaled in the limbs of a tree, they find a suitcase full of money.

This could be their lucky break, or their worst nightmare. They decide to risk keeping the money -- and to face the inevitable consequences . . .

The native American insights are a delight to read. Louis Owens's beautifully crafted prose leaves a last impression.

Owens' third American Indian crime thriller has received praise from Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist and others. The consequences of trying to keep found money (in this case, $850,000 dropped from a drug dealer's plane in remote New Mexico) take ranchers Will Striker and Billy Keene on a wild ride. Enter sex and magical realism, stir, and find yourself reading a "well-wrought thriller capped by a twist-filled climax."

I've searched for years for just the right book that sums up my feelings for lost wilderness and finally found it with this book. I find Mr. Camuto's contrast with William Bartram's descriptions of the mountains both startling and sad. I've walked these mountains for over 30 years and in just the last 10 have I begun to realize the tragic consequences of overdevelopment and urban sprawl. Mountains and streams once largely clean and pristine now are considered off limits for fishing and drinking and I wonder why we have no love for the complexity of our natural environment. Like a Sand County Almanac, Chris Camuto has begun a modern discussion of the land ethic. An ethic our country, I fear, has so far refused to acknowledge or accept.

Another Country is a search for the soul of a land almost destroyed. Christopher Camuto writes a powerful narrative describing his exploration of the Cherokee homeland in the appalachians. He seeks communion, a connection he can sense in what is left of the natural landscape and wildness around him. It is as elusive as the dying Cherokee myths, as tangible as the arrowheads and village sites he finds. Camuto refers to the Appalacians as the Cherokee Mountains, their former nomenclature, because it is to the Cherokees they really belong. The rape and exploitation of their land parallels the rape and exploitation of their culture. Camuto's search for a wildness, that now remains only in remnants, is set in counterpoint to the reintroduction of the red wolf into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The most important clan animal of the Cherokee, it is symbolic of the differences between the Cherokee and the early Europeans. One revered its wildness and sought to preserve it. The other despised and killed it. One honored the wolf's home, seeking harmony with the land and its spirits. The other saw something untamed that must be destroyed. The author's journey begins as the wolves are being set free. Like many of the members of this first Canus Rufus release who step beyond their shrinking boundaries, Camuto confronts the vestiges of civilization at almost every turn. Set against continual references to Native-American mythology, and the history of the area, Camuto's book allows the reader to share his insight into the Cherokee view of the world. Unlike many who write about early culture, he does not attempt to steal it as his own. His statement that he is not Cherokee and thus can never totally understand, adds credibility to the objectiveness of his observations. It also demonstrates humbleness of endeavor, a bow of respect to the Cherokee nation. The book is firmly rooted in place as it combines the ethereal with the tangible landscape. Those who cherish wildness and honor those first here, will also treasure this book. In many ways , it is a sad obituary, lamenting that which was, as it examines what is left. The reintroduction of the red wolf represents one small, but hopeful, step in the restoration of that which is lost.

I've hiked and fished the Southern Highlands for years, especially the area in and around the Smoky Mt. National Park. Reading Another Country has shown me this place in a completely new light. He compares these mountains at one point to a palimpsest--a scraped-over parchment on which old texts leave faint traces. This book records Camuto's efforts to track these traces, which of course are quickly vanishing if not already gone. By giving these mountains back their ancient names, by telling stories the Cherokee told their children about their homeland, by delving into the natural and human history of the places he walks, by honoring the memories of the ones who are gone, and by contextualizing the beleaguered efforts to bring the red wolf back to its former ground, Camuto opens up layer upon layer of meaning for us who seek out the last wild places without always knowing why. An unforgettable book.

This is an outstanding novel. Shows what happens underneath the badge. This is a "Must Read Book" for anyone wanting to become, or understand, what BEING a police officer means.

This is the only book that I could not put down. This book gives insight to how times have changed from the law enforcement of yesterday, to the modern law enforcement of today. This book is a must read by anyone who wants to be an officer or is in love with an officer.

I am a full time police officer and if you want to know what it's like this book will tell you. Does not glorify the job the way most books do. Lets you in to the psyche of the day to day cop. Great job.

A friend suggested this book during a very low point in my life. I'm so glad he did as it was very instrumental in me getting out of my rut :)

I also then bought another copy for a friend who was having a hard time and sent it to her, and she loved it!

the writer does an amazing job of storytelling then taking the time to convey what the sometimes hidden meanings are....a great book for anyone looking for enlightenment, whether they are native american or not! enjoy this book!

very helpful tool for life. Very inspiring and spiritual, but also funny. This book is a must.

For someone just discovering there Cherokee Heritage This book is a must. Very enlightening!