War Woman,a Novel, Vol. 9

Few writers portray Native American life and history as richly, authentically, and insightfully as Robert J. Conley. Conley represents an important voice of the Cherokee past. The novels in his Real People series combine powerful characters, gripping plots, and vivid descriptions of tradition and mythology to preserve Cherokee culture and history. War Woman spans the late 1500s to mid-1600s.

War Woman, a brave, headstrong, clever Cherokee, is believed by many in her town to be a witch. Having heard stories about the Spanish, and believing there is great profit to be made by trading with them, she leads a small band of youths on the treacherous road to La Florida. This journey, blessed with success and marred by terrible tragedy, marks the beginning of War Woman’s own personal journey as she leads her people by example and by guidance through terrifying times.

War Woman, born Whirlwind, is brave, headstrong, clever, and believed by many in her town to be a witch. Having heard stories of the brutal Spanish to the south, and believing that there is great profit to be made from trade with them, she leads a small band of youths on the treacherous road south, across hostile territories, to make their fortunes. This journey, blessed with success and marred by terrible tragedy, marks the beginning of War Woman's own personal journey as she leads her people by example and guidance through the terrifying times ahead, during which the landscape of the Cherokee people is changed forever by the slowly encroaching European settlers.

School Library Journal

YAThe early history of the encounter between the Real People, or Cherokee, and Western Europeans is vividly imagined in this latest saga by a prolific Cherokee writer. Using a few isolated but historically supported discoveriesthe use of guns by Cherokees during the early European-American invasion, the ruins of an old Spanish gold mine in Cherokee country, the building of a Cherokee town on the site of an abandoned village near Jamestown, VAthe author creates a fast-moving novel of how these things might have happened. It is told from the view point of War Woman, a name Whirlwind achieves through her extraordinary skills and abilities during each of the various events. This history parallels Whirlwind/War Woman's development from girlhood to maturity and eventually death. Cherokee beliefs, traditions, and way of life are interwoven throughout the story as the Real People come face to face with the beliefs, traditions, and customs of the invading peoples. This is an excellent novel that features strong female protagonists; there are also love interests and fierce battle scenes. It presents a Native American viewpoint of early American history and offers alternative explanations for some of the archaeological discoveries still not explained completely.Dottie Kraft, formerly at Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Robert J. Conley is the author of ten novels in the Real People series, The Witch of Goingsnake and Other Stories, and Mountain Windsong, all available in paperback from the University of Oklahoma Press. A three-time winner of the Spur Award and Oklahoma Writer of the Year in 1999, Conley was inducted into the Oklahoma Professional Writers Hall of Fame in 1996. He was named Writer of the Year by the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers & Storytellers in 2000 for Cherokee Dragon.