Joan Gilbert is a fascinatingly realistic writer who thoroughly researches her subjects and knows the history and background. Her book on the Trail of Tears should be recommended reading for all who regret the loss of the Amerindian heritage in this Country. It should also be studied in Social Studies Classes in every school in the land. If you don't know anything about this heart- breaking piece of history, and the MO State Park that marks one of the forced-march stops - it will open your eyes to reality!

This treatment of the life of Bartley Milam is about to be edited, rewritten and republished. It is best to wait for the new edition which will hopefully be out in the next year or so.

While doing research about the Cherokee Nation, I have seen this book in the bibliography of every major source I've used, including a course guide used by the Chief in the Nation's Legal History Course. It is strongly recommended by most of the scholars I have spoken with, and by the family of J. B. Milam.

This biography of Principal Chief J. Bartley Milam is extremely helpful in understanding the Cherokee Nation in the 20th century. Milam was a visionary chief who is often pushed aside by historians who do not understand the working of the Cherokee people. He was appointed by FDR as chief in 1941, but that was only after the Cherokees convened at general council in 1938 and elected JB Milam. Just because the US Federal Government unilaterally declared the Cherokee Nation disbanded does not mean that the Cherokee people gave up their right to self-determination. JB Milam paved the way for the reformed Cherokee Nation of 1975 and helped establish the National Congress of the American Indian in 1944. Truly excellent reading.

First off I have to say that I think Barbara Kingsolver is a great writer. She writes with deep felt emotion and feeling, creating well rounded and fully realized characters that you care about.That being said I felt "Pigs in Heaven" was a bit of a disappointment. Revisiting the characters she introduced in "The Bean Trees",Kingsolver weaves the story around young Turtle's American Indian heritage and her adoptive mother's paternal claims on her.One of the things I didn't enjoy was that she moves the narrative from first person to third which seems to be a device to introduce an entirely new set of sympathetic voices to add to the custody conflict. And although I can understand why the choice was made, it still made me feel somewhat removed from Taylor, the central voice of the previous novel.To me the book felt like three separate stories that were tied together instead of one solid narrative.Ultimately the story raises some interesting points about race and family, managing to be both provoking and moving if not quite as sucessfully as it's predecessor.

Another of Barbara Kingsolver's high-level novels to which one can easily relate, Pigs in Heaven is an amazing work of writing that tightly grasps the reader right from the beginning and never lets go. The characters are all extremely well-developed, and it is astounding to discover the ingenious connections between several entirely different people in the plot. There are so many depths to this resonant piece that it must be read several times for all of the details, descriptions, and clever bits of humor to sink in. In this book, Kingsolver beautifully weaves the conflict between two distinct cultures, and although the resolution to this battle is slightly predictable, it leaves the reader satisfied. Pigs in Heaven is a compelling novel that touches both the heart and the mind.

Rave Reviews go to Barbara Kingsolver's Pigs in Heaven. This book is truly one of the best books, that I have read in all of high school. Although the book has a slow start, after a few chapters, you want to know more. Taylor's relationships with her daughter, mother, and boyfriend are all interesting and unique in their own ways. They aren't the most typical relationships, but that is what makes Pigs in Heaven such a great book. It brings to mind a lot of questions about right and wrong. Should a child be raised by someone of their own culture and background or is it acceptable to be brought up with the love and care of a parent, who may not be of the same ethnicity? No one person can answer this. It is not spelled out in black and white. Reading this book made me think and I couldn't wait until I got to the end so I could find out what was going to happen to Turtle. In the end the answer is not completely defined, but gives you something to ponder. The way the characters are portrayed also impressed me. For example, the loneliness and inability to have successful relationships were traits clearly shown by Alice. Her marriage to Harland gives insight into her lifetime of love troubles. By the time I was finished reading, I had a feel for each of the character's personalities. Reading this book may take awhile so it would be in your best interest to pace yourself and take your time. Although the book is long, it is definitely worthwhile to read. I enjoyed reading it for its uniqueness and because it made me think. It is definitely more fun to read something that's challenging like this book, as opposed to something that's read just to get through it. Hope you enjoy the book.

I found this review of Cherokee history very distasteful in the fact that it portrayed the Cherokee Patriot chief Dragging Canoe as a common outlaw. While the truth be known it was his father Leaning Wood and the "peace faction" he led that undermined Cherokee sovereignty of the homeland in the East.

Good geneological information, great photographs. This book provides great insight into Cherokee perspectives at the early half of the 20th century.

For anyone looking for Cherokee family connections, this is a good place to start. The historical facts are not in chronological order, and can be confusing however.

As we're not talking about an expensive book, it's OK to buy it as long as you include the Haynes Repair Manual (Jeep Grand Cherokee 1993-2000) in your cart as your primary Choice.
Chilton's tries to cover way to many models of different cars and fails miserably in some aspects. Haynes, in the other hand, deals with Grand Cherokees only, making it much more accurate for ZJs (all the info applicable) and WJs (some info applicable) owners. In case you don't know ZJ stands for Grand Cherokees manufactured between 93 and 98 and WJ stands for Grands made in 99 and after.

I found the electrical and vacuum schematic section's to be very precise. The symbols were very standard and easy to follow. Granted they do not lay out the stereo system to help install a new radio. But if you don't know how to use a Meter then you shouldn't be working on cars. The book was extermly useful in step by step procedures of the dash removal. Also it goes more in depth on the ABS brakes with very useful info on proper bleeding. In my opinion the only manual which may offer more detailed info would be a manufacturer's maintenance manual accompanied by an IPC.

It beats the Haynes Repair hands down! I'll never buy a Haynes Book again afte checking this repair manual out. I received this also in the mail in just a couple of days! First Class Service from Amazon - First Class Book from Chilton's.

A New Age version of the Mayan calendar given new Cherokee-esque names. What is reprehensible about this book is that Raven Hail is in fact a Cherokee tribal member.

I don't like or recommend this book for the following reasons.

1. Why is the Mayan 20 count included in a book about the Cherokee?

2. Raven Hail goes into an astrological system that seems to imply that one's future is set in stone. It is NOT. I am living proof that one can be anything thet want to be; providing they have the will and desire to change their life.

The book has a few Cherokee legends.

Please E-Mail me if you have questions or comments about my reviews. Two Bears

Wah doh Ogedoda (We give thanks Great Spirit)

I've enjoyed reading a number of the works of Raven Hail in thepast, and have found them very informative concerning Native Americanand particularly Tsalagi tradition. This book however, confuses me more than clarifies things for me concerning Tsalagi "star knowledge" or the use of the various cosmic cycles and its relationship to Tsalagi ceremony of the present and past. What surprised me most of all was the very, very close correlation between the names of the days as given by Raven Hail (in English and Tsalagi-in-transliteration), and the names of the days in the Mayan day count. This just leaves me with unanswered questions such as, "how much of the Tsalagi tradition has come to us from Mesoamerica?" I wish that Raven Hail would have gone into more detail about her own sources of this knowledge that she presents as traditional Tsalagi teaching.

For the traditionalist who is really bothered by the incorporation of non-Tsalagi sources/ideas into teachings, I think this book is going to seem a little too "New Age." Raven Hail brings in insight from "Old World" wisdom sources as well as traditional Tsalagi teachings, though her underlying down-home humor is apparent and is definately traditional Tsalagi.

For those who are just looking for alternative ways outside of their own tradition of thinking about the patterns within human variety, you might like this book, but you might be more interested in checking out some of the Mayan-inspired studies that go into greater detail. The calendar Raven Hail includes at the back of the book does make it easy to find out either your "Cherokee" or "Mayan" day sign though.

Well to tell the truth the book was down right boring, Eagle jack is a nice enough guy but susanna did nothing but get on my nerves all she did was whine and argue through out the whole book, I was waiting for it to get exciting but that never happend
it was dull from page one, I don't even think Eagle jack fell in love with her unless i missed that part?

A very good book. Funny and romantic -- at times HILLARIOUS. The love scenes could have been a little more explicit for my taste but the book is so entertaining that I didn't really mind all that much. The kissing scenes are delicious. The last two pages are wonderful. There IS one intense scene on the cattle drive where you can just feel the water current slam that steer right into you. Eagle Jack Sixkiller is so-o-o easy to fall in love with.

Eagle Jack Sixkiller wakes up to find himself in the Salado, Texas jail, after a brawl the night before that got his horse stolen by theives, when a pretty woman, widow Mrs. Susanna Copeland, shows up to bail the first man out of jail to pretend to be her husband and stay away from liquor long enough to trail her cattle to Abilene, Kansas. Of the five men in the jail, Eagle Jack is not only stone cold sober, but willing to work for a woman as long as he can track the theives that stole his horse.

It was a great store, in spite of the fact that Susanna wanted to fight Eagle Jack at every decision that was made at home and on the trail. It was very entertaining!

Through a great desire for truth of the cherokee history, I would of rather had an experience in picketing on a local feminism rally for "Red Rights". Insightful and wity were my initial reactions (not to discredit her eloquence) but the repetative nature of relaying her thesis was a bit tedious. I am a great fan of oral tradition when it passive-aggressively reiterated. The persuasion lacks when it is shoved down your throat. Equilibrium of cherokee culture was identified under irrational means of a chip on Perdue's shoulder. To elaborate on the up-side, it is full of actuality (in disguise).

In her well-written Cherokee Women: Gender and Culture Change, 1700-1835, historian Theda Perdue argues that "the story of most Cherokee women is not cultural transformation...but remarkable cultural persistence." This is not to say, she argues, that these women did not experience significant changes in their status and condition, especially if one looks at the "decline" of Native Americans only in terms of land losses and military defeats. If, however, historians looks at "other indices of cultural change, including production, reproduction, religion, and perceptions of self, as well as political and economic institutions," then a different image emerges of Cherokee women over time: one of cultural persistence. Perdue does not deny that contact with Europeans had a profound, and ultimately negative, impact on the lives and well being of native peoples, including women of the seven Cherokee clans. She is particularly lucid in describing how the deer skin trade, military alliances and the insistence by whites of negotiating only with males in treaty making and land deals diminished much of the influence women had in terms of trade, material possessions and political status.
Perdue interprets the changes in Cherokee life for men and women, beginning in the 18th century, as a cultural retooling, in which men became predominantly involved in external affairs of the tribe (war, military alliances, commercial enterprises, treaties) and women maintained internal power and status within the tribe. "While women became dependent on men in some respects," she notes, "men also relied increasingly on women to plant corn, perpetuate lineages, and maintain village life." She goes on to state that the deerskin trade may actually have enhanced the power of women within their Cherokee communities "by removing men for much of the year." Additionally, for most of their yearly sustenance, male hunters still relied on the bounty of agricultural production, which remained almost exclusively the domain of females. Finally, Perdue argues that despite the encroachment of whites, the male takeover of tribal political leadership and institutions by the late 18th century, and relocation to the west by 1839, "a distinct culture survived removal, rebuilding, civil war, reconstruction, allotment and Oklahoma statehood." As proof of the survival and persistence of this culture, Perdue briefly points to the continuing significant role of women at the end of the 20th century. Thus, she concludes that the fate of Cherokee women has not been one of cultural declension, but one of "persistence and change, conservatism and adaptation, tragedy and survival."
Much of Perdue's interpretation of persistence and survival of women's culture within the Cherokee clans is quite persuasive. However, her treatment of the growing external role of men with regard to leadership and war and the corresponding decline in female power and influence on tribal matters of extreme (and ultimately devastating) importance to the Cherokees is problematic. By arguing that the male takeover of political power and control of land allowed women to consolidate internal, domestic power within the tribes seems to make a virtue out of an inescapable necessity. This is not to refute Perdue's recognition of the important spheres women continued to control; nevertheless, her contention that the external pressures of the U.S. government's "civilization program," land sessions, wars and eventual removal did not result in "declining status and lost culture" may be significantly overstated. For example, she asserts that although men dominated most aspects of commercial relations with whites, "women did occupy one position that had long-term implications for the Cherokees-they became wives of traders." While marriage to whites may in fact have been an effective method of survival and adaptation for Cherokee women, Perdue's use of this trend as evidence of cultural persistence is questionable. Similarly, Perdue argues that when Cherokee wives of British soldiers at the besieged Ft. Loudoun in 1760 provided supplies and intelligence to their husbands, they "acted according to long-established standards of behavior for married women." These women saw themselves not as part of "an abstract Cherokee nation," but as "members of clans and lineages," of whom their red-coated husbands were part. This assertion refutes her earlier statement that husbands were not kinsmen of their wives, they were outsiders to her clan. Furthermore, the fact that these native women were willing to defy their own people in a time of war in order to help the enemies of the tribe may also be seen as evidence of waning tribal cohesion.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Ms. Perdue's book about the Cherokee Women. It is a well researched volume. It opened my eyes to a lot about the life of the Cherokees, both men and women. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Native American cultures.

Ms. Perdue makes what could be a boring subject into a great read. The book held my attention and piqued my interest in the lives of Native Amercian women from the past and today.

At best this is a tall tale, at worst slanderous. As a student of Native American studies, I was looking for reference materials on individual Cherokee Chiefs. This book is certainly not a source to site. Just not a very good book over all.

I read Cherokee Rose and enjoyed the anecdotal trip through the early history of the Cherokee nation. The novel was action-packed and had great attention to detail.

Last summer I bought a painting of "The Spirit of Stickball." It is quite beautiful, but I couldn't understand how a sport could inspire someone to such a work of art until I read the description of the game in Cherokee Rose. I fully understand it now.

This is truly a saga of the American spirit. The author's description of people and places is worthy of Louis L'Amour. This story is filled with action and true drama of Native Americans. It tells a truer story of American History that what is taught to our children in school. If you liked Lonesome Dove you will like this book. All characters were real people and the facts are a matter of History. This book is highly recommended .

As far as bizarro New Age books go, this one is actually sort of charming.

In the union of Mother Earth and Father Sky (the Cosmic Creator, Father in Heaven), man was given a gift - the gift of light, the soul, the breathe... Believe in the unity of our human relations, beyond religious dogma, political institutions and race. Your opennesss of the mind and heart will tune into the teachings of many - through Dhyani Ywahoo as she weaves the teachings of Cherokee, Buddhism and our cosmic relatives. It is vain to think we are the only creations of God in this infinite universe. So isn't it nice to know we have good relations beyond Earth? Through wisdom knowledge and practices of meditation given in this book, the Sacred fire in each of us will truly spark as she sings these words into your heart, mind and spirit - For all of us can learn the mindful ways of the Peacekeeper of good relations - for our home is the Earth and the Stars beyond.

I was having some very hard times and this book found it's way to me. It held some great wisdom, and provided me with some spiritual healing, a strength and answers that I despirately needed. I have read it several times and have kept it as my "bible" of life. I have recommended it to others. I would like to thank the author.