From Publishers Weekly
Coldsmith's popular Spanish Bit saga, about a Plains Indian tribe, continues with this evocative installment that takes up where Child of the Dead left off. The Elk-dog People are enjoying a period of peace and stability. Their dreaded enemies, the Head Splitters, have become allies, and they are living in relative isolation from whites, who in the past have brought both dislocation and plagues like smallpox. As the novel opens, Wolf Pup is born to Gray Mouse and to Dark Antelope, the chief tracker and scout of the People. The boy has a very spiritual presence, and as he grows in both stature and wisdom, he apprentices to his grandfather, the holy man Singing Wolf, undertaking an extensive vision quest; he also becomes an expert tracker like his father. Trouble arrives with the arrival of the Snake People in Elk-dog territory. Though the two tribes get along amicably at first, competition for dwindling bison herds may spell trouble ahead. When a tornado destroys the Elk-dog People's village and possessions, they are forced to seek out buffalo in quantities larger than ever before-and the only one to lead them is their young medicine man. Coldsmith tells a persuasive coming-of-age tale, enriched with much detail about Plains Indian ways, and the story takes on a particular poignance as both reader and People come to realize that those ways may be coming to an end.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Wolf Pup, the grandson of Singing Wolf, holy man of the People, seemed destined for greatness even as a child. When a series of tornadoes leaves the People facing a hard winter without buffalo skins for shelter and clothing, it is young Wolf Pup, now an adolescent, who saves the clan with a strategy nurtured during a vision quest. As a result, he becomes a Bearer of the Pipe: a true holy man's assistant. He also wins the heart of Otter Woman and begins adulthood as a leader of the future. Any summary of Spur Award^-winning author Coldsmith's work sounds hopelessly corny--another glorification of tribal life. But his genuine respect for Native American culture shatters our cynicism. This is a compelling portrayal of Indian life before the European presence wreaked havoc on the continent. Though the People's nomadic way of life seems locked in the past, the struggles of the individuals within that culture assume a universality that crosses centuries. Ambition, love, lust, and devotion to one's clan are timeless.
Wes Lukowsky
