Hi—My name is Christopher Hawking, and I teach English Language Arts at Grant High School in Portland, Oregon. Next year I will have the honor of teaching an American Literature course to juniors, and I'm looking for an engaging, relevant, and historically rich literary text for students to explore an aspect of the indigenous experience in the United States. I believe that Fools Crow by James Welch is that text. Welch's experience as a member of the Blackfeet and A'aninin culture lends a deep cultural and historical perspective that I believe my students would benefit from greatly. In addition, Welch is a wonderful writer, and Fool's Crow a powerfully human novel that depicts a young person's coming of age during his people's conflicts with the U. S. calvary culminating in Marianas Massacre of 1870. It's a special novel, and I can not wait to read it with my students.

One more thing, due to resource constraints, my school does not have access to books that represent this critical voice. I hope you can contribute something to help create this experience for my students.