Storykeeper

Storykeeper is a historical-literary novel, based on existing sixteenth-century Spanish documents, but told from the perspective of the people of the Mississippi River Valley, who lived and survived the invasion of Conquistadors in 1541. One-hundred years later, and prompted by a dream, Manaha, Mother-of-None, steps before the village fire. She demands that the children of the tribe be allowed to hear stories and the truth about their ancient homeland, that had been decimated and abandoned not long after the departure of the Spanish. Before Manaha can finish her first story, her fire is doused and the listeners frightened away by Ta-kawa, a devious but respected warrior. He convinces their struggling tribe of survivors to reject Manaha and her stories. Manaha refuses to stop, even though her listeners must hide in the shadows to learn about the Son-of-the-Sun, the seventy-foot cross he planted atop the temple mound of Casqui, and the thousands who gathered to watch the first grand Christian ceremony in North America.Son-of-the-Sun is the name given by the people of Casqui to the commander of the Spanish, Hernando de Soto. Three first-hand accounts written by Conquistadors with the expedition describe Casqui and twenty other towns discovered in a fertile, widely-populated region, just across the Mississippi River. All these bustling towns, some of which had existed for eight-hundred years, would be deserted within a generation.Manaha learns of the abandoned homeland from Taninto, an old hermit who found her as a child, dying of smallpox after her family had been murdered. As a young man, Taninto was drawn to the mystic and power of the strangers and their horses. Traveling as a servant to a good-hearted but troubled Conquistador, he crossed the land of twelve nations, witnessing its diversion and grandeur, and then running from its destruction brought on by disease, famine, and wars. Each night, Manaha continues the retelling of Taninto's journey, even as the existence of her own small tribe is threatened. A hostile tribe of buffalo hunters captures most of the men from Manaha's village and demands that those remaining join their nation. The night before the tribe must leave, Ichisi, son of Ta-kawa, steps into the light of Manaha's fire. He begs to hear more stories and asks her to follow along behind the tribe on its and her final journey. The last essence of those ancient nations; their unique stories and history survive only if there is a Storykeeper.