Book Review: People of the Longhouse

You may have noticed that a character in my little short stories is described as full-blooded Native American. Recently, I've become interested in the reality surrounding Native Americans, not the romanticized version. That's why I have him behave like a modern college-age young adult would. At the same time, because of my anthropology training, I have a big interest in other cultures. Native American culture, what it really is, is part of that. Unfortunately, most so-called "experts" on Native culture are not experts.

The Gears are an exception; and a damn good one.

Michael and Kathleen Gear are archaeologists who have become famous as the most prolific authors of Native American historical fiction. They write about eras from the Bering land bridge to even the 1800s. I recently read one of their books, "People of the Longhouse", which is about the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Confederacy's ideals of democracy were a major influence on the founding of the United States government.

"People of the Longhouse" takes place in Upstate New York long before the actual founding of the League, following the boy who would become the mythical founder of the League, Dekanawida.

Young Odion is kidnapped in a war raid by enemy warriors from rival tribes. Unlike other young prisoners, he is not adopted by another tribe, instead sold into slavery to the brutal witch Gannajero. Odion must survive the ordeal while protecting his friends and sister. Meanwhile, his mother War Chief Koracoo and her ex-husband Deputy Gonda try to track their kids down with the help of warriors from a rival tribe, all the while wondering if there's a traitor among the rival tribe.

What makes this book work is the incredible amount of detail the Gears put into this book. As I mentioned earlier, the Gears are archaeologists. Just reading about Iroquois traditions doesn't work. They cite their sources in incredible detail at the end. By the way, this is not romanticized. This is violent, sexual, gritty and straight-forward. Do not come in expecting to see nature-loving Noble Savages. That view is inaccurate and has no place in the Gears' books.

The characters are not the "noble", "mystical" or "savage" Indians that pervade pop culture. Oh, there's despicable characters, alright. Some of the warriors who kidnap the kids and sell them to slavery are truly horrific characters and the witch Gannajero is the stuff of nightmares. What makes it work as that the chapters and passages showcasing her are told from Odion's first-person perspective. Through the eyes of a little kid, she's absolutely terrifying. Odion could have been handled better, but in their defense, it's probably not very easy to write 10-year-old kids no matter what the culture or time period. But this is a first book. They already reveal Odion's destiny, so he has room to grow.

As for the passages with Koracoo and Gonda, however, they're told in third-person. There's a bit of romantic teasing from one of the other warriors but in the end, she and Gonda reconcile. What made them split up was Gonda's failure to protect the kids and their village, which haunts him throughout their journey. Once he makes her recognize this, they're able to reconcile. I haven't read the second book in the series yet though, so I'm not sure what happens next. These were my favorite passages, though, because they were better written.

The book itself is a good read, but the climax is a bit rushed. Perhaps the Gears were either in a hurry to get it in on schedule or they were not sure how to finish it. Still, it's a good read. The Gears may not be writers by trade, but Tolkien wasn't, either. Still, I like the prose. It flows well when it has to and it's blunt when it needs to be. Go and take a look at it, you won't be disappointed.