The Iroquois Confederacy was one of the world's great democracies,
serving as a model that inspired the founders of both the United States
and Canada. C.J. Taylor has drawn on her Mohawk heritage and versions of
the story she has gathered from elders to tell the story of the
Confederacy of Five Nations (which became six after European contact)
and of the heroic peace walker, Hiawatha, in powerful prose and dramatic
art.
Peace Walker is the story of how peace and unity emerged from a time
of chaos when the nations suffered under the brutality of Chief
Atotahara - a man so evil that he drank potions from the skull of a
small child.
Hiawatha's story has been told in many versions, but none have the ring
of authenticity and passion of C.J. Taylor's remarkable book.