Cherokee Rock - Paperback

by James A. Humphrey (Author)

Exploitation sweeps westward over the Appalachians in 1779 and engulfs ten-year-old Enoli who loses his mother to smallpox, allies with a mentor squirrel, trains as a shaman and blood-brothers with a freedman. Together, they protect a peacemaker who falls to colonial betrayal and murder. The death inspires the boy to pledge his life to the people's pursuit of peace and health.

The Cherokee American Wars rage, and he earns the mantle of healer with a new name, Dideyohvsgi. Scientifically the young man explores revolutionary treatments for smallpox and spiritually he returns to Cherokee Rock and resists attacks by evil specters. Mohi murders his mentor squirrel and Dideyohvsgi experiences vengeful hatred. His freedman blood brother intervenes as tribal forces lose increasingly critical conflicts culminating in the Battle of the Wabash. Forced into submission, they sign for peace and Raven Mockers hover above Cherokee Rock to devour the hearts of a conquered nation. Desperate, Dideyohvsgi enlists wildlife to fight, but they refuse. Defeated, he resolves to champion his people and win the peace.

Dideyohvsgi begins a fundamentalist religious return to tradition. Selu, the Goddess of Corn, promises a reckoning but fails and he loses his following. Mohi leads a merge with white culture. Opposites collide in an ultimate good versus bad wolf revelation on Cherokee Rock. The Great Spirit intercedes and resolves that people must be free to choose their own ways. At peace, Dideyohvsgi welcomes the future freed from personal responsibility.