Book note: The Medicine Man’s Last Stand, by Betty Baker

I have to chuckle when I see this children’s book on my shelf. It’s about Apaches, and it was given to me by someone who is part Sioux, who had a twinkle in his eye as he gave it to me. I guess there’s a history of sneering (and worse) between those two tribes that goes back a long way, but my friend does it all in good fun. That some of the characters in this book (also published as The Shaman’s Last Raid) sneer at Sioux to make themselves feel better, my friend seems to consider a pretty fair joke.

Putting that aside, if it hadn’t been handed to me by someone who knew about authentic Indian traditions as opposed to tourist trap Indians I might have bailed out of the book early on, because I thought for a bit it was going to be based on silly and erroneous stereotypes. Luckily I didn’t bail out, because it turned out to be very much about tackling stereotypes and misconceptions, all wrapped up in an adventure-filled story about a couple of young Apaches who live away from other Apaches, and have never been taught their heritage, or forced to ask themselves “what is a real Indian?” But one memorable summer their uncle talks a television company to travel out to film a Cowboys and Indians movie at the ghost town where the twins live with their parents and uncle. At the same time, a relative needs a break from taking care of a great-grandfather they’ve never met, who is a shaman, and not used to living off the reservation, and their mother gets tapped for taking care of the old man for a while. Having an old man who reveres the old ways – and despises anything that strikes him as “not Indian” – in town at the same time as a film crew gets rather interesting.

It’s a good read, and it was published in 1963, before PC kicked in, which I consider a big plus.

Parents: This book lends itself to discussion, but I’d advise reading it before handing it to your kids, to know what you’ll be up against. (What counts as honorable from the viewpoint of certain old Apaches might surprise you, for instance.) Christian parents, please note that there’s some sun god worship, without much if anything to correct or counterbalance it.

The twins at the center of the story are a boy and a girl, and there’s plenty for both boys and girls to like in this book.