Mohawk Blood: A Native American Quest (Hardcover)

by Michael Baughman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this slight but sometimes resonant memoir, Baughman recounts his efforts to live within modern-day culture yet preserve the Mohawk part of his heritage. A few chapters, like one on a stop at Pine Ridge Reservation and Wounded Knee, are barely anecdotes. More substantively, Baughman, a contributor to Field & Stream, recalls his Pennsylvania boyhood, facing Indian stereotypes in cowboy movies, his stint in New York City marching as an Indian in a humiliating Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and his sad encounter with an Indian brother and sister whose hopes to leave Oklahoma ended in death. Baughman's best efforts here concern the outdoors and his Native American legacy: tracking deer on foot as his grandfather taught him; visiting the remote area of California where Ishi--``the last wild Indian in North America''--emerged in 1911; spending a week alone in the Cascade Mountains, returning ``with a clearer understanding of both Ishi and my own limitations.'' Illustrations not seen by PW.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In this unusual and beautiful narrative, Baughman, a contributing editor to Field and Stream and other magazines, attempts to come to terms with his Mohawk ancestry amid the modernity of his current life. Although part of 20th-century society, Baughman reaches into his past for inspiration: in one instance, he recaptures the glory of his grandfather by hunting a deer in the Mohawk tradition. Baughman creates a kind of reverie much as Thoreau did in his works, illuminating the Mohawk reverence for the earth and for the creatures that inhabit it. The author asks: "How much wildness is enough? How much is possible?" Wildness is equated with the purity of the innocent savage and starkly contrasted with the sophistication and overuse of material goods by today's society. Baughman reconciles this loss of purity through his contact with nature. His story is a personal vision that gives insight to all who read it. Recommended for most collections.
Vicki L. Toy Smith, Univ. of Nevada, Reno
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: Lyons and Burford, Publishers, NY (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558213767
• ISBN-13: 978-1558213760
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,632,646 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some books stay with you after you have read them., July 14, 2000

By A Customer

This one has stayed with me. As a nature-lover and one interested in Native American culture, I walked away from this book feeling I gained something by reading it. It is neither dense nor preachy, so it makes for an easy read. _Mohawk Blood_ is written by a descendent of the great Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, but the focus of the book is not past battles or politics. Rather, almost in a short story form, the author shares some timeless lessons learned from Brant, describes interaction with the natural world in a breathtaking manner, and touches on the socio-economic status of Native families. I could not put this book down.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Touching Memoir, March 9, 2008

By	Robert Cohen (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about how an American Indian with pride in his history copes with living in the modern age. Through his writing, he demonstrates that despite the effort by Euro-Americans (and this is coming from a Euro-American), the sincere beauty of the natural lifestyle of the native peoples of this land has not been completely wiped out.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book, November 22, 2000

By A Customer

See the previous review. He/she describes it in a nutshell. Just wanted to chime in that I had read this book and loved it. I discovered this author through another book, which was amazing: A River Seen Right. Highly recommend both books.