Algonquin Legacy, by Rick Revelle. Book Four Conclusion – An Algonquin Quest Novel

Algonquin Legacy now finds the Anishinaabe people and their allies, who had come with them from the Eastern Lands of Turtle Island, now living in what is now Manitoba. They have made quick allies with their old trading partners the Omashkiigoo the Cree. Their languages, plus people have become inter webbed in marriage, hunting and warfare against the Ayaaj-inini (Blackfoot).

The opening chapter finds Anokì the son of Mahingan hunting with his two children Wâpikwan (wah-pi-kwan – Flower) and Môso (moo-so – Moose). Their mother is a Cree woman whose name is Osk-îskwêw (Young Woman). In this chapter the three of them have to survive an early winter blizzard with ingenuity and good luck. Upon their return they have found that their good friend Eli’tuat Ga´qaquis (ga-ah –gooch el- e-do-what: Crazy Crow) has been captured by the Blackfoot. The story continues from here with Crazy Crow’s rescue, plus an unexpected reunion.

Crazy Crow makes a new friend, a Cheyenne Dog Soldier, Ókȯhkevó’omaestse (Oak-key-whoa-a-mast) known as White Crow and a new fierce enemy Ííksspitaawa Kiááyo (iik-sspitaa-wa ke-i-o: He is Very Tall Bear) the leader of a group of Blackfoot people.

The story takes the reader into a Blackfoot village as they try to survive a fierce winter and then go on a buffalo hunt in the spring.
The Blackfoot and Anishinaabe survive a tornado with one group suffering more than the other.

This novel continues on in the tradition of the previous three with Native languages in the vernacular, teachings about the culture of that era, hunting practices and how they lived day to day. Live before the Europeans, before the Four Horsemen of the Native Apocalypse came into their lives; Disease, Alcohol, Guns and Religion.

Algonquin Legacy begins fifteen years after the Battle of Crow Wing River, during which the Anishinaabe allies fought the powerful Lakota nation on their home lands. During the battle, a sudden solar eclipse convinced both sides that they were witnessing a powerful omen, which led both factions to quit the battleground.

After the Anishinaabe returned to their homeland, a decision was made to travel towards the western sun to live, a choice which came at a great cost to the surviving family of the late Omàmiwinini (Algonquin) leader Mahingan. His son, daughter and the great Mi´kmaq warrior, Crazy Crow, went west with the Anishinaabe, while Mahingan’s widow and her nephews, along with their wives, friends and her brother-in-law, the legendary fighter Mitigomij, travelled back to their homelands along the Kitcisìpi Kitchi (Ottawa River).

Algonquin Legacy now finds the Anishinaabe people and their old trading partners, the Omashkiigoo (Cree), living in what is present day Manitoba. Now forever linked together through language, marriage, hunting and warfare, the Anishinaabe and Cree people struggle to protect their numbers against their powerful Ayaaj-inini (Blackfoot) rivals.

Carrying on in the tradition of the previous three books of the series, Algonquin Legacy lets readers experience the culture, hunting practices and day-to-day struggles of survival during this unforgiving era. The stories continue to be linked by the dedication of Mahingan’s original family unit and their descendants, who manage to stay together despite all of their trials and tribulations.

Death may come for some of them, but new life will always rejuvenate the family core.