The first recorded Europeans to cross the Mississippi River reached the western shore on June 18, 1541. Hernando De Soto and his army of three-hundred-fifty conquistadors spent the next year and half conquering the nations in the fertile flood plains of eastern Arkansas. Three surviving 16th century journals, written during the expedition, detailed a complex array of twelve different nations. … nations. Each had separate beliefs, languages and interconnected villages with capital towns, comparably in size to European cities at the time. Through these densely populated sites, the Spanish carried a host of deadly old-world diseases, a powerful new religion and war.
One-hundred cold winters have passed since that first encounter. Manaha, Mother-of-None, steps before the village fire. Rejecting taboos long held by her small tribe of survivors, the old woman demands that the children be allowed to hear stories and the truth about their abandoned homeland, decimated by the time the conquistadors departed.
Before Manaha can finish one story, the fire is doused, and her young listeners frightened into the shadows. Tribal elders threaten and friends shun Manaha, but she refuses to stop telling. The only hope for the unique history and stories, the last remaining essence of a forgotten-people to survive lies with one unlikely Storykeeper.
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Very interesting. Sad. It was a learning experience to read about De Soto’s interaction with the tribes. Sometimes brutal.
A most refreshing perspective on early American Indian history. Loved the focus on values within the community and sad to see how caste systems, gender and misunderstandings of the role of Gods limited life – and progress. A well written story with funny, sad and happy moments. I enjoyed this book.
If you love descriptive language of beauty that touches your soul and sensitive unfolding of a way of life lost to our self-absorbed culture, you will enjoy this book. If you want to absorb yourself in a different world and cultural perspective, this book is for you. I was taken in by the first page and fascinated by the story, based on …
Learning about our nation’s history & the characters who helped to influence the way in which it came about is fascinating. History in school was memorizing dates and places, but dull and without the personal stories that make it actually come alive & more memorable.
An Indian outcast tells all the stories told to her by the one who saved her life, raised her to find the stories told were about the one who saved her and some of herself to be told by others so no one would forget their history. It jumps around some but after a few chapters the book is east to follow.
Excellent historical fiction.
Fascinating way to “feel” history. Well researched and written. An enjoyable way to be exposed to a culture and learn it’s history.
Totally unexpected, great story, wish it were a part of a long series.
STORYKEEPER (Nine-Rivers Valley Book 1) – Daniel A. Smith
The Spanish, in the 1500s, destroyed 12 thriving tribes. An old woman seeks to pass on her stories of the Casqui, her tribe’s history, despite hostility from her group of a new generation of survivors. She keeps her distance and sits by her campfire without visible listeners, holding a …
This is a gentle but disturbing story. It’s told in a way that highlights the damage done by Europeans to native Americans. It’s gentle in that we see the humanity in everyone. It’s disturbing to see what blind arrogance can do. The story is deftly written through the dreams of two characters.
great book that kept me very involved highly recommend
Past and present are woven together in great tale tying in the importance of passing down stories.
I enjoyed reading this book. I always like a book that looks into a culture that is different than mine. The characters were well written and there was enough action for me to keep my interest.
A great story about the early expeditions into America by European explorers. It gives stirring look at the lives of the early American Indians and how they were affected by the spread of European influence and Christianity. Interesting how the author manages to illustrate three separate individual stories while leading the reader to an ending I …
STORYKEEPER by Daniel A. Smith is my first 5-star rating of the year. In elementary school, I learned about Hernando De Soto as a Spanish explorer of the American southwest. Within a broader context of exploration, the author also shows him as conqueror, thief, despot, bringer of fatal disease, torturer, and brutal practitioner of genocide for the …
Terrific..fast read..thanks for the feed back..I’m the story keeper for our 2 families n find it such a sham that the younger…mill..aren’t interested in them but I write them anyway..it’s my life book anyway..
Was a bit confusing at first but after learning how it shifted to a different time with each chapter I found this book to be one of those “can’t put it down” books. Also suspected the locations in the book were in my region of the country, Arkansas. The information given after the book was interesting. I plan on visiting Parkin, Arkansas in …
This is a wonderful book, I really was sad when it was done. The trips into the past and present were wonderful, scary, horrible and fascinating.
without shrillness or vituperation, this quiet book eloquently but simply details the horror native Americans lived through when first they met Europeans, and the devastation both deliberate and unintended they suffered as a result.
well-written with a great plot and wonderful characters.