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Roots of Peace, Seeds of Hope: A Journey for Peacemakers

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"We will choose wisely where we are going, only when we know where we have been." --Maggie Davis

Maggie believes when she studied history at school, the beautiful story of how the Native people gave to our country was never told. The story of how they gave up so much of their life was also never told to her.

"Most often, history is written by the takers in the world, not by those who are taken from." --Maggie Davis

She has not written this book to erase the wrongs, but to help the healing.

"Peace is more than the absence of war - it is a desire for life." --Maggie Davis

Maggie invites her readers to journey with her to look at life through Native eyes. Through her writing she explains the path of the Native peoples and how their lives changed from the days of Columbus. I could relate to this book because I sometimes wish we could all leave the stressful lives we lead and go back to a simpler life.

Each chapter begins with a verbal image of a setting in Native life. You imagine you are the person she is describing. In this way you can empathize.

"You are living in this land a thousand years ago. The source of what you use, you see in everything around you. Your medicine comes from plants and trees and flowers. Your food is what you have gathered or hunted or grown. You breath fresh air. You drink pure water. Silence is your friend. Always, you prize your visions and your dreams. When you plant, you sing songs. You read the weather in the sky and in the trees and in the sounds that animals are making. The sun gives you warmth. And warmth comes from the fire you fuel with branches that you find beneath the trees. You make tools from bone or from wood or bone or antler. You build shelters--you make clothes--from other gifts of Earth you see around you. Your music is the rush of waterfalls. It is the crackling of your cookfire, the sounds of flutes and rattles and drums, and your own voice singing. Everywhere you turn, you see beauty. Everything you notice is important to your life. You walk gently on Earth and live in balance. To you, all that surrounds you--all that lives--is blessed." -- Roots of Peace

Then, Maggie gives a historical account explaining the situation, while looking at both sides of the issues.

"The history of this country sweeps back thousands of years. Long before settlers reached our shores........"

"Roots of Peace" is a book which alerts us to the other side of the story! This book will start you on your own journey of discovering your role as a peacemaker. It is a book which explains what Native and non-Native people have been to one another in this country.

"In it, I put what I wish I'd known when I was young." --Maggie Davis

~The Rebecca Review

The sense of calm instilled by Maggie Davis' gentle but direct prose touched me as deeply as the message of peace that she conveys. This story cannot be read or spoken of often enough. A heartfelt and elegantly crafted book.

Roots of Peace, Seeds of Hope is one of the most beautiful and powerful pieces of literature ever written. We all have the right to know the truth about our past. It is imperative that children are being educated correctly, or we as adults have done mankind a great injustice. All parents, teachers, and adults should consider Roots for themselves and their children.