Sky Flower: Memoirs of a Mohawk Woman at the Edge of Two Worlds

by Ray E. Phillips

Overview

Some tattered papers discovered in the ruins of a cabin in the Adirondack Mountains reveal the life story of an old Native American woman, Sky Flower, written in the form of a diary.

And what a story she has to tell! With quill in hand, the Mohawk writer records her life from her early memories as a spoiled child in her tribe. Through unusual circumstances, tragedies, and her own fierce spirit, she experiences life in a Dutch colony (Fort Orange at present-day Albany), in New Amsterdam (present-day Manhattan), and in a great manor house in Littleton, England, where she becomes a governess. There she discovers that one of the children under her care is deaf. Her compassion and familiarity with Native sign language help bring the girl out of her shell. A romantic interlude results in a broken heart and Sky Flower returns to live along the Hudson River, where she starts an informal school, before retiring to the mountains.

Sky Flower experiences both the luxuries and hardships of European life in the 17^th century, as well as the societal hypocrisies that come with it. She witnesses first-hand the inevitable clash of cultures played out in early America. She writes of the hardships she accepts living as a recluse in the wilderness. The book presents in bold relief a personal statement about the tumultuous events of the "Contact Period," told from a perspective of a long and eventful life.

The book concludes with an overview and a timeline that give the story additional historical context by noting key events in Europe and Colonial America during Sky Flower's tumultuous life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798989906277
Publisher:	Quill Publications
Publication date:	04/20/2024
Series:	The River Quintet: Young Lives in a Changing World , #4
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	362
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Ray E. Phillips enjoyed a long career in which he combined both writing and medicine. As a physician he specialized in cardiovascular disease, family medicine, and community health care. He founded a small foundation that enabled him to travel overseas to undertake medical projects, including in Bangladesh and Nepal. Born and raised in Massachusetts, he spent his adult life close to the Hudson River with whose history and natural beauty he fell in love. He explored it extensively as a hiker, paddler, sailor, and reader. In his own writings he was determined to evoke and pay tribute to the unending dramas played out in the lives of its human and natural denizens across the centuries.

Table of Contents

Preface

Special Thanks

PART I   Publication History of Sky Flower

PART II  Sky Flower:

Memoirs of a Mohawk Woman

at the Edge of Two Worlds

Chapter 1   Tahawus

Chapter 2   Fort Oranje

Chapter 3   Tahawus, Again

Chapter 4   The North River

Chapter 5   Nieuw Amsterdam

Chapter 6   London

Chapter 7   Littleton and Shepperton

Chapter 8   London and Littleton, Again

Chapter 9   Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Plymouth

Chapter 10 Boston to Beverwijck

Chapter 11 The Mountains

Addendum  By Gladys Eddy

PART III  Historical Framework

Overview: 17th Century Europe and the Life of Sky Flower

Global Timeline 1613-1692