Grandfather's Song by Jake George
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: December 2004
- Publisher: Archebooks Publishing
- Format: Hardcover, 186pp
- ISBN-13: 9781595070692
- ISBN: 1595070699
Synopsis
The world is crying out from the imbalances of na-ture. Death is a stench in the air. With the giant Xinkwelenowaks as his spirit guides, Tom Talking Coyote Jefferson has to find the way back through a portal older than time, back into the Old World where man came from, to a place known only in the myths and legends of Native American peoples.
And time is running out.
An authentic Native American voice relates stories of modern reservation life blended with ancient Lenape tribal lore. Take a read: you'll find yourself seated in tribal councils and conducted on vision quests into the farthest reaches of the universe. You'll watch the ani-mals turn human and tell their tales, and finally you may come to understand and respect the vitality of a cul-ture which seeks balance in all things. Jake George is a writer who deserves the same attention and respect earned by such fine novelists as Sherman Alexie and Tony Hillerman.
Sara Williams Archebooks' best-selling author of The Don Juan Con and The Serenoa Scandal.
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Grandfather's Songby Anonymous
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May 19, 2007: Jake George has given us a work about Lenape people which purports to be based, in part, on 'ancient Lenape tribal lore.' Unfortunately, there are almost no recognizable Lenape elements anywhere to be found in this book. The Indian names of the months used are none of them Lenape--except that for December (which is probably only by coincidence). The very sparse employment of the Lenape language is terribly flawed. The author writes, 'N'gsisak,' for 'my son.' No such word exists in Lenape. This should be 'gwitet.' He writes 'Ana,' for 'mother.' This is fine when a character is addressing his mother, but not when speaking *about* his mother. The author uses 'his Ana' and 'my Ana.' The correct forms are 'kohesa' and 'gahes,' respectively. George calls Bigfoot, a 'Xinkwelenowak' (literally, 'big men'), throughout the book. This is a plural form, not a singular. (Bigfoot has no place in Lenape lore or beliefs. The 'spider sight' ('...through a thousand little prisms...' - p.2) is drawn from modern biological science--not from Indian ideas! The author's exposition of Lenape beliefs about homosexuality (gays are 'healers' - p.14) is not a Lenape belief. The Lenape of Pennsylvania, in 1702, had not employed the atlatl ('spear thrower') for hundreds of years, by that date, though the author has them using it (pp.22 & 23). There were no moose in Pennsylvania, in 1702, and the Allentown, PA area is not in the natural range of the raven. Both appear there in this work. (pp.23 & 24). The author states that the 'Sioux' are an 'Algonquin' people (p.41). They are not. He thinks, for some reason, that the 'Unami' are native to southwestern Virginia (p.112). They are not. [I suppose he got this idea from the so-called 'Ani-Stohini Unami Nation,' which has a site on the internet but, that group has no discoverable ties to the Unami of the Lenape, whose traditional homeland is southern New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and northern Delaware.] The author's misidentification of the honorific familial terms for various spirit-beings of the Lenape is telling. He calls the Great Spirit and Winter, 'grandfather (pp.164 & 108) and, the Earth he calls 'grandmother' (p.64) To the Lenape, the Great Spirit is 'father,' Winter is not accorded an honorific title, and the Earth is 'mother.' Finally, the whole tale revolves around the magical powers of a few sacred tobacco pipes, which items are NOT a part of traditional Lenape culture and religion. I'm not a literary critic, so I'll pass on commenting on whatever aesthetic worth this book may or may not have, as literature. For furthering the reader's understanding of the Lenape, it has no value. Raymond WhritenourLENAPE TEXTS & STUDIES
Grandfather's Songby Anonymous
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February 11, 2007: If you love animals and nature and have even a slight interest in native folk lore, this is a must read. It is an easy reading book that makes you feel like you are right in the middle of the action. The book is based on true native American folk lore and is a hard one to put down once you start reading. But, if you must break away before reading it to the end, the chapters are short enough that you can easily read to the end of a chapter before you leave. I thorougly enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to anyone with an open mind.
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