A Native American Middle-Grade Novel.
It is 100 years B.C. (Before Columbus) and life is good for twelve-year-old Chogan until a grizzly bear from the land-with-no-trees wanders into the eastern forest, smashing wigwams and destroying meat-drying racks. .Despite the danger the bear presents, life must go on if Chogan and his family are to survive. Chogan and his ten-year-old sister venture into the forest of virgin white pine to check their snares and discover an orphaned wolf pup. The bear has killed its mother, and has left the pup to die. Chogan adopts the young wolf pup knowing he must return the wolf to the wild at the end of the summer. Under Chogan’s care, the wolf pup survives and grows to adulthood. The time comes when Chogan and the wolf must part and go their separate ways. But even though returned to the wild, the wolf remembers his friend and rushes to Chogan’s aid when the grizzly attacks and threatens to kill Chogan.
Read Chapter One
Chogan and the Gray Wolf is a unique hybrid between fiction and non-fiction. Inter spaced among the pages of historical fiction are eight one-page essays covering a cultural event or skill essential to survival in early America. In addition, a dedicated web page with color photographs provides further detail to each essay. Topics covered include:
- Baggataway (Lacrosse)
- Snares and Traps
- Wapatoo (also known as arrowhead)
- Ancient Copper Miners
- Making cord and rope
- Wigwam construction
- Primitive fire-starting
- Manoomin (wild rice) harvesting
For more information about this novel contact Larry Buege at LSBuege@aol.com or see Author's Home Page.