Peace Walker: The Legend of Hiawatha and Tekanawita

by C.J. Taylor

Overview

The Iroquois Confederacy was one of the world's great democracies, serving as a model that inspired the founders of both the United States and Canada. C.J. Taylor has drawn on her Mohawk heritage and versions of the story she has gathered from elders to tell the story of the Confederacy of Five Nations (which became six after European contact) and of the heroic peace walker, Hiawatha, in powerful prose and dramatic art.
     Peace Walker is the story of how peace and unity emerged from a time of chaos when the nations suffered under the brutality of Chief Atotahara - a man so evil that he drank potions from the skull of a small child. 
     Hiawatha's story has been told in many versions, but none have the ring of authenticity and passion of C.J. Taylor's remarkable book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770497788
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	02/25/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 6.80(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

C. J. Taylor is an internationally acclaimed artist and children's author of Mohawk heritage. Her paintings are in many private collections across North America. A self-taught artist and storyteller, she has organized exhibitions of Native art in several cities and has traveled extensively, helping make the rich cultural history of the First Nations accessible to young people. She now lives in British Columbia.

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR Peace Walker: The Legend of Hiawatha and Tekanawita:

"Taylor's version of this legend is a powerful one...." - The Globe and Mail

"...the writing is eloquent and poetically rhythmic." - School Library Journal

"Fans of Taylor's art will welcome nine acrylic paintings, which break up the text and blend elements of the natural and spirit worlds." - Quill & Quire

"Use this strong title to introduce Iroquois history or studies of democracies." - Booklist

"In a style reminiscent of oral storytelling, the author weaves the legend of the Confederacy of the Five Nations." - The Horn Book Guide

From the Publisher

Gr 6 Up-Taylor gives the folk story of Hiawatha a historical foundation and cultural clarity. The events surrounding the collaboration of two chiefs, the Onandaga Hiawatha and Tekanawita of the Mohawk, to upset the tyrant Atotarho are related simply and abound with graphic details of Native life. They vary from descriptions of clothing, food, and daily life to harsh, cruel practices of war, which are accurate for the times and Native American practice, and create a complete picture of the people and era. Hiawatha endured his village's murder of his daughters to force him on the psychic and physical journeys necessary to the accomplishment of peace. Each chapter includes one full-page illustration done in acrylic on canvas in a slightly naive style. .Sentences are not long, and the writing is eloquent and poetically rhythmic.-Cris Riedel, Ellis B. Hyde Elementary School, Dansville, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal