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Enduring Spirit
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by:
ISBN:
0-7414-1605-0
©2003
Price:
$16.95
Book Size:
5.5'' x 8.5''
, 287 pages
Category/Subject:
HISTORY / Native American
Facing death and worse, Walks-Far, an Algonquian, and Old-Man of the Temple Mound People, fight to survive many dangers in this fast paced adventure through caves and rivers in the novel Enduring Spirit by Lyn Hill.
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Abstract:
Enduring Spirit is a tale of adventure and survival. An Algonquian trader attempting to hide from thieves falls into an underground system of caves and rivers and is thwarted by obstacles at every turn in his quest for escape. A woman of the Temple Mound culture is separated from society after her canoe is swept over a waterfall on her return from a ceremonial gathering. Survival for each depends on their wit and memories. Eventually they meet and have a family. Fire engulfs their island home and they seek a new life where each twist and turn brings new adventures.
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Customer Reviews
Archeology/ Adventure
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10/30/2003
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Reviewer:
Gayle Hendrickson
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This was a great read! Occasionally, there is a story that captivates my imagination, engages my emotions, charges my curiosity, and opens a window on another world. Such a book is Enduring Spirit, by Lyn Hill.
Opening with the journey of the trader, Walks Far, and his companion, Dog, the story follows his escape from robbers and his travels through the dark world of Mother Earth, a network of underground caves. Moving in the world of the unknown, lighted by the coals from his horn, and ultimately only by his courage, he faces more than the physical dangers from without and the exhaustion from within. The road behind is closed, only the path ahead, its dangers unknown, is open. There is no room for the faint of heart, only for the determination to move forward into the darkness, possibly to destruction, knowing only that he cannot retreat and to stay still is to die.
Old Man knows that she, too, cannot retreat. Everything and everyone familiar is lost to her from the moment the waterfall wrenches her from her known world. To dwell in grief is to die. The task before her is overwhelming: To create a solitary life and provide alone for all her needs. Courage comes in taking one step at a time, one task at a time. Only by focusing on each present moment can she overcome the fear and loneliness. Drawing on her ancestral guides to follow the plan that has been set for her life, she attempts to establish a new existence with only a half-grown wolf for companionship.
Along the way, there are incidents of loss and trial, ...the kind that come to each of us. It is by the nature of the responses of Walks Far and Old Man to the trials of their lives that the limits of their possibilities are defined. With each new challenge, each learns something more about him and herself, the ability to survive, the ability to adapt. We follow them as they expand the dimensions of their worlds, and care about them as the author presents them with one challenge after another, testing the mettle of their souls.
Ultimately their paths cross, as surely they must, and these two survivors create a common world, only to be forced to travel on again. They encounter others who join their small band, ultimately creating their own tribe, the River Walkers, from their different languages and cultures, different appearances and beliefs, holding in common only the Enduring Spirit that marks them all.
Similar to Tony Hillerman's novels about the Dine', opening the world and the culture of the Navajo Nation to those who would learn about them and honor the old ways, Lyn Hill uses her novel to share the ways of the Mound People of the Southeast United States. Reminiscent also of the cultural and herbal lore of Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear, Ms. Hill's story is richly augmented with descriptions of the activities of daily life and the culture and skills that set the Mound People apart.
I am enthusiastic about this very satisfying tale, and am already looking
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