Messengers of the Wind

Book Review

Imagine a land where no one owns property, the earth and it's resources are considered sacred to be shared with all, the care of the lands is a community project, people work as teams to provide food, shelter, clothing and nobody steals because everyone owns everything. Money does not exist in this utopian society, because people barter, trading services and goods. In this land, the strong take care of the weak, young people respect the wisdom of the elderly who take care for the children, while the young do the chores they once did. You will hear stories passed down, one generation to the next, about such a society in "Messengers of the Wind".

Edited by Jane Katz, "Messengers of the Wind" is subtitled: "Native American Women Tell Their Life Stories". Ms. Katz began traveling in 1988 to meet and interview ancestors from the many tribes of peoples who lived on the land we now call the United States of America. She continued her quest until 1994 and published the stories of 25 Native American women in 1996. Life for their ancestors, as told to them by their mothers and grandmothers was not as idyllic as I it sounds in that utopian society, but the themes of community, love for the earth and people can be found in all the narratives.

You will read the words Indian and white men a lot in this book. Likewise, savage, civilized and Christian. Surprisingly, there is more sadness than bitterness as the messengers speak. The women exhibit extraordinary strength and joy despite the hardships of growing up on reservations and being outcasts in much of contemporary society. The children they were traveled on dogsleds, carried water from wells and were orphaned when parents died young. They were forced to adapt to uncomfortable clothing and hairstyles when sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools. Separated from their families and culture, they were humiliated, demeaned, beaten and sexually molested by Priests and Nuns. Girls were punished by having their long braids cut off and boys' heads were shaven bare. Yet they endured.