In this book, The Proud and the Free, the story is pre-Trail of Tears, where thousands upon thousands of Indians were driven out of the east toward Indian Territory (later known as Oklahoma). It is the story of a young half-breed Indian girl who is very rich, very powerful, and very stuck up.

It is the story also of another young woman, a teacher from Pennsylvania who comes to teach the young girl and her siblings. This is a teacher who also winds up teaching the young slave children, even though the Indian girl and her siblings think they are so much better than the slave children. The slave children, especially the little boy, is extremely smart, and learns his alphabet quickly.

The young Indian girl is in love with a neighbor Cherokee, who from Janet Dailey's description is simply gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, though not in those words.

This is a different look at the Cherokee way of life before the Trail of Tears and the determination of the Georgians, a group of white men, who literally drove the Cherokees out of Georgia.

I give this book 4 stars.

Sequichie Hifler is certainly a modern day mystic for our times. In this small collection of vignettes reflecting on her Cherokee childhood in Oklahoma, her homespun wisdom brings us closer to the true meaning of God than any would-be Deepak Chopra or Marianne Williamson.

With all due respect to those noted authors, it's the simplicity of Sequichie Hifler's writing and the warm introduction to her life through storytelling that unlocks the door and allows us to return to that wonderful place of knowing and understanding.

Throughout the book there is the haunting voice of the Great Spirit that almost demands the reader to run outside and kiss the ground, embrace the trees, touch the flowers and look into the warm eyes of all the little creatures about. We should thank them all for having patience with us while we struggle to remember and return to that which is real and important and necessary in our lives.

Sequichie Hifler writes, "the soul of the Cherokee is forever immutable in its love for a kindred spirit. And yet that love of brother is never so strong as the love for things of nature. So closely woven are these allies of spirit, we can sense that all things are brothers, all people are one with nature. All nature keeps a constant pace; it never forgets and never loses the love of life for which it was made."

Her poignant memories delivered me back in time to my own Oklahoma childhood and to the remarkable, almost daily, celebration of the mystery and magic in nature. She provides a gentle reminder that we are connected, all creatures great and small, and that by gracefully honoring nature we come face to face with the reflection of the God that exists inside each one of us.

Sequichie Hifler might have been deeply and wonderfully exposed to the innate wisdom of her Cherokee elders but she grew up in a time and place where the Christian doctrine was exceptionally unforgiving - unfortunately quite common and typical even in the Oklahoma of my youth. But we survived and transcended it by overcoming our fear of church and heeded that inner call which allowed us to make our own church in the bosom of nature and there find God and become one with the Great Spirit. With remarkable insight she reminds us that "the true church is within each one of us, and it is a personal responsibility to worship there often."

Through the words and memories of Sequichie Hifler we are introduced to some incredibly delightful characters, wise beyond their time, that help pave the path to our journey back home. We marvel at her simple but exceptionally wise mother and applaud when her equally sage-like grandmother encourages Sequichie Hifler to love herself first and unconditionally and watch, as the rest of the world would certainly follow. These are simple words to live by and truly insightful writing that can help you change your life in an instant.

I think, perhaps for me, as one who endeavors to reflect on the simplicity of life through the written word, the following passage moved me more than anything else in the book; and promises to challenge me forever to the way I see things. She writes, "Everything is full of life for such a short time. The image must be as important in my notebook when I read it again as it was when it happened. It must be able to live again on the page in another season. My winter notebook goes with me into spring, and my spring notes are soon filled out with the summer pictures. I record and record, because each image must have time to work through my own fingers and my own consciousness to live on paper. The word is only part of the Spirit, but it feeds the one who cannot stop to see, to experience the purples of the land. I cannot assume readers will know what I have seen, how a flower blooms, how a bird flies, or what fragrance is. To trigger someone else's imagination to see for themselves is to come full circle to awaken my own. No one should miss the purples that accent nature. We who record the whisper of the land must live in it, breathe it and bring it forward. Wonders await us all. But our spirits must be kindled to see and to feel. Then, when we are weary, when all the color has drained from our spirits, we can tap into the life of the land again and find a healing peace."

This is the little book that could and it speaks volumes to anyone who dares to allow Sequichie Hifler's memories to ignite their own and transcend ordinary life. As grandmother Sequichie says, "when you think you have learned all the lessons in life little one - look again." If you look for life's lessons in this book you will be rewarded beyond belief.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

If you are a teacher (or parent) and want a book that addresses these issues witout being overly complicated or inauthentic - run, don't walk and buy this wonderful book!

And heroine Viv Powers has character in spades. She's passionate, intelligent, wry... and very good at being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her day job is writing for a regional magazine, but she picks up a new night job -- sleuthing -- when a land dispute leaves two people dead. Who's to blame? The men who want to open a racetrack in Talequah? Any one of several townspeople, all of whom seem to have motive? Or even Utlunta, a Cherokee legend that might actually exist? Albright keeps the reader guessing until the very end.

The book starts off a tad slow, but the second half runs at a full gallop until the conclusion. There also seems to be a love-triangle-in-the-making: Viv is going to have to choose between her current boyfriend (Charley, a musician) and an ex-lover (Hutch, a detective). Too many peripheral characters clutter the pace at times, but it's otherwise a twisting, turning gem of a mystery. The plotline dealing with Utlunta, a Cherokee witch with a deadly stone finger, makes for truly chilling moments.

Pick up Albright's debut, "Tulsa Time," then read "Daredevil's Apprentice," then wait in line like the rest of us for more Viv Powers books. If you live in Tulsa or Talequa, Oklahoma, there's extra incentive to read these books, as Albright does an excellent job describing these locales.

Set in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, Daredevil's Apprentice finds Viv Powers bored stiff working at the "Green County Journal." When Lisabeth Ellis enters as the new managing editor, Viv starts seeing trouble brewing. Her musician boyfriend, Charley, stays in the background doing gigs with his band "Powers That Be." But when David Menckle assigns Viv to dig up a story about the disappearance of John Dreadfulwater, forebear of Viv's best friend, Lucie Dreadfulwater, the action opens with a bang:

"Lucie stood in the doorway of the barn, her hands gripping the doorjamb. As a storyteller, drama was her job, but I had never seen her like this. Her face was a changing tapestry of emotions: surprise, fear, indecision, anger. 'What is it?' Some extra sense drew me to the dark interior of the barn. She grabbed my arm. 'Don't go in there.'"

From the very first chapter, Letha has her readers hooked on a very high-powered plot that tangles up our attention from the first chapter. Not only is her writing absolutely exquisite, from her vivid character description to the action which builds to a smashing denouement. Viv is a typically scattered character with a strong heart and some good basic training in self defense from her wise father. She is young, impetuous, and thoroughly likable.

Daredevil's Apprentice is a good, solid Oklahoma story with strong American Indian lore, old grudges, and death that implicates those who are closest to Viv. Viv's sister Maggie provides Shakespearian comic relief, but their relationship is a strong one of caring and playful banter. The legends of the Cherokees and the musical twist shape the story into magic.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

So I mentioned all of this to my Mom, who along with my brother urged this book upon me, and she said that she'd seen a People Magazine article about Carter a dozen years ago and it, naturally, turned out that the book is fiction. A little quick research on the Web turns up the fact that it's not just fiction, it's virtually a hoax. Carter was actually named Asa Carter. He was a rabid segregationist who adopted the pseudonym Bedford Forrest, in honor of the Confederate general who founded the Klan. He may or may not have been a speech writer for George Wallace, but he did claim to have written the infamous "Segregation Forever!" speech.

Now having said all that, there's one more thing that needs to be said about the book; it's terrific. In many ways it reminded me of The Power of One, both are books of such surpassing beauty and heartwarming humanity, who cares if they are completely unrealistic? Isn't one of the chief values of fiction the capacity to transcend reality? The Education of Little Tree teaches timeless lessons about the value of family, education and place and it preaches an abiding mistrust of government. If it also managed to snooker most of the touchy feely, do-gooder, Left, which desperately wishes that these were all Native American values, and not essentially Western ones, this merely allows us to enjoy it on a second level. After all, it's not hard to make Oprah & company look stupid, but it is fun.

GRADE: A

"Trail of Tears," by John Ehle, is a beautifully written book which educates and entertains, uplifts and depresses, frustrates and astonishes. The reader becomes painfully aware that the history we were taught in school virtually ignored an important part of the American story. The true nature of the Cherokee is exposed and examined through Ehle's obviously dedicated research, while throughout the book, the tone is less that of a documentary, and more that of a story being told, gripping the listener with each new development.

Heroes are exposed as miscreants, and statesmen as traitors to principles we all hold dear. The reader comes to realize just how close the Cherokee came to having an entirely different destiny than the one to which they finally succumbed, and becomes intimately acquainted with the characters and causes involved therein.

The book is a fast read, an eye-opener, and contains a story that all people, and especially all Americans, should know and pass on for generations to come.

In Trail of Tears, John Ehle (who is, as far as I can tell, non-Native) sketches the people and events that led to the infamous Trail of Tears, the removal of the Cherokee Nation to "Indian Territory" (primarily Arkansas and Oklahoma) where they would "never" be bothered by whites again. The focus is on the "Treaty Party," consisting of Ridge, his son John Ridge, and his nephews Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie, along with Moravian, Methodist, and other missionaries sent to convert the Cherokees to Christianity and who are caught up in Cherokee/state/federal politics.

Ehle's bias is evident in the title; the "rise" of the Cherokees is the effort, not wholly embraced by the Nation, of adapting to European-American culture, language, religion, and even livelihood (e.g., Cherokee hunting is uncivilized, whereas the adoption of American farming is preferable). The story begins with some background and the birth of a Cherokee man named Ridge not too long before the American Revolutionary War. The white impact has already begun to be felt, as one of Ridge's forebears is white, and he and his family are driven into the wilds by the war.

After the war ends, the new Americans have one craving-land and more land. A gold strike in Georgia adds to the fever. The Cherokee, along with the Choctaw, Creek, and other southern tribes, are perceived as "wasting" land that their white counterparts should be entitled to. From this point on, it is clear that the Juggernaut of American expansionism and greed will displace the Native peoples. The question is only how and when.

Meanwhile, Ridge, who will not convert to Christianity but who wholeheartedly adopts many white ways for himself and his children, becomes not only a wealthy plantation owner but a leader of the Cherokee Nation. His son becomes an attorney, while Boudinot becomes the first editor of the Cherokee newspaper, The Phoenix. Both young men marry white New Englanders they meet while at school. Ridge and his family and allies are the first to see the writing on the wall-that the Cherokees will be removed; it is a matter of whether it is "voluntarily" on their own terms in their own time or involuntarily.

The principal chief of the Cherokee, a Cherokee-Scot named John Ross, is portrayed as a man in a state of denial. It is never clear how he thought the Cherokee could overcome the overwhelming tide of white intrusion without bloodshed and without losing. He and his followers blame the Ridge faction for selling the Cherokee out when they sign the Treaty of 1835 that puts the seal on the removal. They feel that they can continue to "negotiate," not realising that Andrew Jackson has set the tone and the terms-and that the federal government under his leadership has loaded the die. Ehle is no John Ross fan; when the inevitable finally happens and the Cherokee are removed, Ross sends them via the lengthy, dangerous, time-consuming land route, resulting in hundreds if not thousands of deaths (the number remains unknown), while Ross and his family use the quicker, less treacherous water routes.

There are several dichotomies in this history-the Upper Towns vs. the Lower Towns; the full-bloods vs. those with white ancestors/family; the uneducated (mostly full-bloods, according to Ehle) vs. the educated (John Ridge, Boudinot); the federal government vs. state government (a dichotomy that would be resolved violently through the Civil War). A forest/mountain vs. town dichotomy is also evident. In any case, anything that speaks of the way the Cherokee used to be is seen as "primitive," while Cherokee adoption of white ways is lauded by their neighbors. In fact, this is seen as the heart of the problem; the Cherokee people are pliable, are willing to adapt, are willing to live like the whites-and in the end are treated no better than their Creek, Choctaw, and Seminole counterparts. Ehle includes much contemporary commentary on this particular irony.

This book has been said to be controversial because it shows the wealthier Cherokees, like Ridge, John Ridge, and John Ross as owning African slaves. The Cherokees tried to marry their own ways with that of the European-Americans; they had always had slaves, usually captives from other tribes. But it is clear that the majority of Cherokees were poor, did not own plantations, and did not exploit slaves.

Trail of Tears is an excellent snapshot of a particular situation and will be eye opening to those who are not familiar with the story of the southern tribes and their interactions with the burgeoning American population. Ehle includes a wealth of primary sources, such as letters, journal excerpts, military orders, and the like, that serve to enrich the story. This history lesson is told in a story/fiction format enhanced by contemporary writings that keep it interesting, lively, and personal. Ehle's biases are clear but do not detract from this book as a history of a moment in time when the fate of a nation was decided. This is an excellent supplement to any broader history of the Trail of Tears.

Diane L. Schirf, 29 April 2001.

I do not recommend this work as an introduction to the Trail of Tears. You should have a good grasp of the people and events leading to North Georgia's Trail of Tears before attempting to read the book since Ehle frequently does not introduce minor characters, and does not spend much time introducing the major characters and events.

The book is well researched but controversial, since there are essentially two sides to the story, that of Major Ridge and that of John Ross. This gives a balanced presentation of both sides, although I suspect that fans of Major Ridge may disagree.