Customer Reviews

Clamshell Boy: A Makah Legend

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"Clamshell Boy: A Makah Legend," written and adapted by Terri Cohlene with illustrations by Charles Reasoner, is part of the Native American Legends series. The Makah lived along the Pacific Northwest coast, near what is known today as Cape Glattery in Washington State. They called themselves "Kweedishchaaht," which means "People of the Cape." The Makah were especially skilled at whaling, being one of the few people who hunted whales at seas, and they were also exceptional craftsmen.

"Clamshell Boy" is about Basket Woman, who comes to the beaches at sunset where the children are gathering clams and scoops the children up and carries them off in her basket to roast for dinner. Basket Woman comes and captures Salmonberry and the other children and carries them off to home for her dinner. When Salmonberry's mother discovers her daughter and the other children are gone she weeps, for no one knew where Basket Woman lived and the children she stole never returned. But her tears fell onto an open clamshell and there they shimmered with life and turned into a young boy whose spirit was strong and who promised to find the children and bring them home.

As is often the case with such stories, Clamshell Boy has to trick Basket Woman so that he can rescue Salmonberry and the other children. However, it must be noted that the clear moral of the story is that it is foolish to ignore the warnings of your elders, because there wisdom is greater than that of children. This particular point is made several times in the story and is even articulated once by Basket Woman herself. It is nice to see a story where the parental position is laid out and it is made clear that children "must learn to follow rules and to hold their promise sacred."

In the Native American Legends series the back of each book after the story is devoted to providing young readers with information about the customs and lifestyles of the people from whom the story is taken. There are photographs of the Makah and some of the items that they make, from whaling models and rattles to floats and baskets. The informative text is devoted to the Makah homeland, the Makah, what a Makah Village was like, and Makah clothing, along with a timeline of important dates in history and a glossary of key terms from "adze" to "tumpline."

The watercolor illustrations by Reasoner are quite detailed when it comes to the outfits worn by the Makah characters, and I also like how he does trees and the native designs on the giant lodge of Basket Woman. There are even some orcas, which will give some young readers a thrill when they spot them in one of the illustrations. Other volumes in the Native American Legends series by Cohlene and Reasoner includes "Dancing Drum: A Cherokee Legend," "Ka-ha-si and the Loon: An Eskimo Legend," "Little Firefly: An Algonquian Legend," "Turquoise Boy: A Navajo Legend," and "Quillworker: A Cheyenne Legend."

The books in the Native American Legend series combine stories of various North American tribes with factual information about the Native American cultures. Both interesting to read and full of pertinent factual info, these books combine fiction and non fiction nicely.