Panther in the Sky by James Alexander Thom

Their attitude about seizing Indian territory is revealed in this passage, written by Tecumseh’s arch-enemy and future U.S. American frontiersmen believed that Indian land existed for their taking. Any tribe could migrate into any territory not occupied by a different tribe.

Tribes did not own specific parcels of land. Natives believed that their Creator had placed them exclusively on the North American continent where they were expected to live harmoniously with nature. If you read this book, you will understand fully why Native American/frontier Caucasian conflict occurred. “Some days Big Turtle would sit in the sunshine for hours, wincing while the children took turns at the tedious task of plucking off his whisker stubble, bit by bit getting rid of his facial hair as the Shawnee men did theirs.” Adopted by the tribe’s chief, Boone had been accepted as a member of the village. Here is an interesting example that involves Daniel Boone, who had been taken prisoner by the Shawnee war tribe that the child Tecumseh belonged to. Religious beliefs, ceremonies, social morays, games, agricultural practices, tools and weapons, clothing, house construction, the roles of men and women: all of this is included in Thom’s narration of the life of the remarkable Shawnee warrior chief Tecumseh. One reason is you will learn so much about the Algonquian/Shawnee culture as it existed in the Ohio River Valley during the late 1700s and early 1800s. This Shawnee maxim is the major theme of James Alexander Thom’s Panther in the Sky, a historical novel I wholeheartedly recommend. Translation: May we be strong by doing what is right.

Panther in the Sky by James Alexander Thom