Song of the Split Elm

Penobscot reservation on Indian Island in 1853... "Madeline was born singing. She sang melodies like chants, like forecasts, like conversations with flowers and birds." Madeline's father Jeremiah, a Calvinist preacher, lived in fear of his daughter's unique voice and spirit, which could not be contained. Madeline's Penobscot mother, Hannah, wove her baskets in silence far from Jeremiah's hope for her redemption. She was enthralled and comforted by her daughter's sonorous melodies, and in te...