Customer Reviews

Warrior Woman: The Exceptional Life Story of Nonhelema, Shawnee Indian Woman Chief

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

To start, let me establish my bonafides as a fan of Mr. Thom's work. Five of his novels proudly sit on my bookshelf . I have the featured review of his novel The Red Heart. One of his books is on my Favorite Books List on my profile page. When I teach world history I have my kids read a piece of historical fiction as part of a semester project. I have proudly placed copies of Follow the River and Panther in the Sky as examples of historical fiction at its finest. I met Thom at a conference this past spring and told him that his books were the reason I created this type of project. When at his best, Thom's books make you feel as though you have stepped into that world of the past.

"Warrior Woman", while accurate is just not entertaining reading. The plot meanders around and never seems to pick up steam. We never really understand Nonhelema's motives in the book - why is she so desperate to negotiate a peace when it is so obvious that those treaties will be broken? Perhaps if her early life had been explored in more detail. The reader is offered snippits of earlier times - past battles, a trip to New Orleans some twenty years earlier but we don't know how these things formed her Revolutionary War-era self.

"Warrior Woman" seems to be the capstone on the series he has written about the Ohio River Valley. He mentions the legendary "Welsh Indians" he writes about in The Children of First Man. George Rogers Clark, the star of Long Knife appears several times, as does Tecumseh. William Clark, who is featured in his book about the Lewis and Clark expedition makes a cameo appearance. Kidnapped whites raised by Indians are featured prominintly in "The Red Heart" and "Follow the River." They are important in this book as well since Nonhelema's daughter is one of those kidnapped children who chooses to stay with the Shawnee. Even a young George Drouillard is mentioned twice in passing. He is featured in yet another book entitled. Sign-Talker: The Adventure of George Drouillard on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. To me, it seemed that Thom was closing the circle on his interpretation of this period of history.

Before you read this book, read any of the other ones I mentioned above.

I told Dark Rain that it would be hard to read yet another Shawnee story, because it inevitably ends in tragedy, and I come away depressed. "Ah," she said, "but Warrior Woman ends on an uplifting note."

More like bittersweet, I think, after reading the life story of Nonhelema, the Shawnee woman chief and warrior. But the story is irresistible, as all Thom historical fictions are. Action combined with deep emotion, love and peace juxtaposed on a canvas of prejudice and war, all in that fascinating period of American history, the 18th century Old Northwest.

Nonhelema was a remarkable woman who gave up everything--her material wealth, the respect of her Shawnee people in the Ohio Valley, and many of her loved ones--all in the name of peace. "Blessed are the peacemakers," she read in white man's bible. The words touched her heart and, like her famous brother Cornstalk, she dedicated her life to being a peacemaker.

Warrior Woman follows Nonhelema through her life, delving into her deep faith in Jesus, her love affairs with prominent white men of the frontier, her family dynamics, and her exasperating relationship with Brother Zeisberger, a missionary at Gnadenhutten, the fateful home of the "praying Indians." As a village chief, Nonhelema is responsible for leading her people in their ancient ceremonies. She wants her people to stay together and preserve their ways, yet she also wants to be written in God's Book of Life. Zeisberger torments her, claiming she cannot have both. She must renounce all her so-called heathen ways, or God will never claim her as one of His children.

She works as an interpreter for white men at the fort at Point Pleasant, along the Ohio River. Some of her people call her a traitor, and they no longer trust her. Repeatedly she is betrayed by those white men she helps, and repeatedly her beloved family members fall victim to the white man's violence and hatred. Yet not until her life nears an end does she decide to never again help the white Americans do anything.

Throughout the book, I want Nonhelema to wake up, to realize the treachery around her, the way white men were using her as a means to their own end. Especially Brother Zeisberger, with his pious, self-righteous platitudes and the way he constantly shames her into compliance. But for much of her life, Nonhelema seems confused. Eventually she ponders, "When war and the Jesus God got mixed up together, nothing much makes sense."

Finally, though, she does see the truth about those around her, and she no longer has a need for Zeisberger's approval. I love her best when she goes to him after a near-death experience and, when he complains that her promiscuous ways have taken a toll on her "comely" appearance, she tells him, "My `promiscuity' always made me radiant. What has `ravaged' me is peacemaking." She puts what remains of her mangled hand before the missionary and says, "Our American soldier friends did this when I tried to prevent them killing my uncle. Such have been the rewards for peacemaking."

Nonhelema's life is far more complex than I can express in these few words. Dark Rain Thom and James Alexander Thom have created another rich narrative, this time a story whose Shawnee protagonist lends a rare female voice to the tumultuous 18th century American frontier. Uplifting? Maybe not. But we're all adults here, and most of us have long ago stopped expecting fairy tale endings. We gain so much more enlightenment from the courageous exploits of real-life figures of our history. Or herstory.

One cannot read this exceptional biographical fiction of the famous grenadier squaw without feeling like one of its characters, Justin Case, who while cowardly crouching in the bushes experiences an epiphany to see the remarkable Nonhelema
in battle and hear her voice. That's exactly what happened to me! What a brilliant and courageous and tragic figure she is. Betrayed by the Long Knives. Betrayed by her own. The real gift of this book is the forgotten education we have all missed, no, an IGNORED history that the Thoms now bring to us. Women warriors? Were you ever introduced to a native woman warrior in your history classes? And she lived; she is not invented. She is our provocative American heroine. And she was born right here in Oldtown, Maryland. So beautifully rendered and historically accurate. If the film industry doesn't grab this one, they're crazy!

Like Follow The River I was unable to put this book down....I truly felt as though I were transported back in time...
Living in Ohio where so much rich Native history transpired I found the book a treasure trove of information....
TWO THUMBS UP!!! Thank you for another good read...

I just finished reading "Warrior Woman". I could not put it down, finally a book about true native life told from a native point of view and about the normally forgotten native woman!! Exceptionable, husband/wife team writting!Reading this book makes me want to revisit these places again and say a prayer of thanks, that there lives & efforts were not in vain. Thank you Jim Thom & Dark Rain for making this book come alive with our heritage, the good and the bad.

My husband and I are big fans of James Alexander Thom. This book did little to hold the readers attention. Perhaps there just isn't enough information to write a biographical fiction on this particular character (Nonhelema). This book is "de ja vous" - the battles, the tribal councils, etc. could all have been taken directly from one of his other books.

If you had never read anything by Thom, you would probably enjoy this one. James Alexander Thom is a wonderful historical novelist - this book, however, was nothing but pure repetition of his his previous works.

My heart was filled with sorrow and pain at the many difficulties
Nonhelema faced as she struggled to fight for peace between the Long Knives and her people. It is excellently written, but I wonder at the title. There was only one scene in which she was a warrior. In truth her main efforts were devoted to peace. Somehow, I feel the title, Warrior Woman, misguides the reader who is picking the book. Time and time again, even when she has to go against her people, Nonhelema choses to speak to white people, asking for peace. Even when she sees family members killed, she clings to a belief in Christian beliefs of peace. It is only at the very end, when she is near death, does she come to realizations that were part of her life long before missionnaries came to these shores... James Alexander Thom and Dark Rain Thom have taken historical information and written a novel of rare understanding and beauty.

I thought I left a review :-(. I am an American Indian and enjoy reading these kinda of books (fictional & non-fictional).

Warrior Woman: The Exceptional Life Story of Nonhelema, Shawnee Indian Woman Chief

Informative, entertaining, educational - as are all of James Alexander Thom's historical novels about the midwest and the "Ohio Country" frontier in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Adding Mrs. Thom as the primary author of this book adds another viewpoint that's refreshing, but it's obvious that James had a big hand in the creation of this book. So if you enjoyed his other novels, you'll like this one too.

I was very disappointed by Warrior Woman. I had read Thom's Panther in the Sky, and it is one of my favorite books. This one didn't even come close. It was boring and soooo frustrating to note Warrior Woman constantly waiting for the white man to keep his promises.