Book Review: THE STORY OF THE MILKY WAY: A CHEROKEE TALE

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ross Gayle and Bruchac Joseph .1995. THE STORY OF THE MILKY WAY: A CHEROKEE TALE. New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0803717377.

B. PLOT SUMMARY
This is a traditional Cherokee folktale told by a grandfather to his grandchildren. It shows people working hard to prepare and preserve food for the long frigid winter. A senior couple finds that some creature has stolen their cornmeal from their bins. They are very upset about their loss and being disrespected because no one should steal from their elders. Their grandson, Grandmother Sun, decides to catch the thief and finds the tracks of a giant dog. The Beloved Woman identified the dog as a spirit dog. Then, people in this community gather all together with their drums and turtle shell rattles to frighten it. Finally, the community members’ collaborate to scare and run the spirit dog away into the darkness.

C. RITICAL ANALYSIS
The story opens with the setting in the living room of a contemporary Indian family. There is a painting of people riding horses under a dark sky full of stars; another painting shows geometric shapes waving. A small vase, a pot with geometric shapes and dry corn are other cultural markers. All of these are arranged on the mantle.

The wooden frame houses, weaving tools, corn and cornmeal, agricultural implements, kitchen appliances, and hunting instruments hanging on the wall also present cultural markers in the story. Moreover women’s hair styles, men’s caps and their clothing help present clear portraits of Cherokee. The story identifies the original culture as Cherokee through its inclusion of traditional traits such as respect for senior persons, family relationship, and cooperation. All of these traits are Cherokee Indian in spirit.

Only a few Indian languages, such as titles, the Beloved Woman and Grandmother Sun are used in the text. Language with rhythm and rhyme plays important role for readers, encouraging them to keep on reading and easily catch the storyline. Men are the dominant character in most Indian stories; however, in this story women with long straight hair and children are dominant. Both the hunting dog and the spiritual dog are animal portraits in the story.

The story presents both modern and traditional Cherokee portraits. Even though the clothing and room settings are different between contemporary and traditional Cherokee Indian, the themes of respecting elders and family relationships never change.

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS

From the Publisher: “The author and illustrator capture the rhythms of the desert and the spirit of the Tohono O'odham people in a poem designed for choral reading.”

Children's Literature: “Although not all readers will be equally as ease with the rhyming verse, this is a rare portrayal of a little known traditional observance of the rhythms of the natural world.”

School Library Journal: “His use of deep tones and cotton ball clouds is reminiscent of Barbara Cooney's art. This is a versatile title that serves as both a social studies and language-arts extension.”

E. CONNECTIONS

Other picture books with Cherokee Themes:

Arneach, Lloyd. 1992. The Animal’s Ballgame.
Bannon, Kay T. 2001. Curious One: A Cherokee Legend.
Blevins, Wade. 1992. And Then the Feather Fell. mmpm. Lau T.
Blevins, Wade. 1996. A-ta-ga-hi’s Gift.
Blevins, Wade. 1992. Ganseti and the Legend of the Little People.
Blevins, Wade. 1996. Legend of Little Deer.
Blevins, Wade. 1996. Path of Destiny.
Blevins, Wade. 1994. Se-lu’s Song.
Blevins, Wade. 1996. The Wisdom Circle.
Bruchac, Joseph. 1993. The First Strawberries.
Bruchac, Joseph and James. 2001. How Chipmunk Got His Stripes.
Bushyhead, Jean L., Robert H. Bushyhead, and Kay T. Bannon. 2002. Yonder
Mountain: A Cherokee Legend.
Cohlene, Terri. 1990. Dancing Drum.
Craig, Idell. 1995. Cherokee Myths with Morals.
Dominic, Gloria. 1996. First Woman and the Strawberry: A Cherokee Legend.
Duvall, Debrah L. 2002. Great Ball Game of the Birds and Animals.
Duvall, Debrah L. 2003. How Medicine Came to the People A Tale of the Ancient Cherokees.
Duvall, Debrah L.2003. How Rabbit Lost his Tail.
Duvall, Debrah L. 2005. The Opossum’s Tail.
Duvall, Debrah L. 2004. Rabbit and the Bears.
Duvall, Debrah L. 2007. Rabbit and the Well.
Duvall, Debrah L. 2005. Rabbit and the Wolves.
Duvall, Debrah L. 2005. Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting.
Duvall, Debrah L. 2007. Rabbit Goes to Kansas.
Duvall, Debrah L. 2006. Rabbit Plants the Forest.
Ernesto, Lilly. 1995. How Grandmother Spider Got the Sun.
Haley, Gail E. 1996. Two Bad Boys: A Very Old Cherokee Tale.
Hamiltion, Anna Blanche. 1954. Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting.
Hurst, Hawk. 2001. Story of the First Flute.
Keams. Geri. 1992. Grandmother Spider Brings the Sun: A Cherokee Story.
King Thomas. 1992. A Coyote Columbus Story.
King Thomas. 1998. Coyote Sings to the Moon.
Lossiah, Lynn King. 2001. Cherokee Little People.
Michaelis, Catherine. 1994. How Earth was Made: A Cherokee Myth.
Moore MariJo. 2000. First Fire.
Moore MariJo. 2000. The Ice Man: A Traditional Native American Tale.
Moore MariJo. 2000. The Cherokee Little People: A Native American Tale.
Penn, Audrey. 2003. The Whistling Tree.
Pennington, Daniel. 1994. Itse Selu: Cherokee Harvest Festival.
Red Earth. 1998. Selu and Kana’Ti: Cherokee Corn Mother and Lucky Hunter.
Roop, Peter and Connie. 1992. Ahyoka and the Talking Leaves.
Ross Gayle. 1995. How Turtle’s Back Was Cracked: A Traditional Cherokee Tale.
Roth, Susan L. 1988. Kanahena: A Cherokee Story.
Roth, Susan L. 1990. The Story of Light.
Stroud, Virginia A. 1996. The Path of the Quiet Elk: A Native American Alphabet Book.
Stroud, Virginia A. 1995. A Walk to the Great Mystery.
Ugidali. 1981. Stories from Ugidali: Cherokee Story Teller.
Underwood, Thomas B. Cherokee Legends and the Trail of Tears.
Underwood, Thomas B. 1982. Te Magic Lake: A Mystical Healing Lake of the Cherokee.
Wood, Francis Eugene. 1998. Wind Dancer’s Flute.