Cheap Crow Chief: A Plains Indian Story (Book) (Paul Goble) Price

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Paul Goble tells a story of Falling Star, the Savior
After several volumes devoted to the misadventures of Iktomi, the trickster of the Plains Indians, Paul Goble turns to a story one of the many triumphs of Falling Star, the Savior, who is known as Stone Boy, Blood Clot Boy, Lodge Boy, or White Plume Boy by other. Young readers might be familiar with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha," which tells the story of an unspecified Iroquois or Ojibwa Savior. Despite the different names and the variations of the story, all of these myths tell of the Savior's miraculous birth and his wisdom even when he was a little boy. Falling Star embodies the ideals of bravery, wisdom, kindness, and generosity, which makes him the true counterpart to Iktomi. All though neither figure ever ages, Falling Star is always trying to help bring order to chaos and to right wrongs.

"Crow Chief" tells of how the Crow Nation ("Kanji Oyate") was put in its rightful place by Falling Star, and explains how it was that all of the crows who once were white are now black. The story is set so far in the past that the people of the plains had neither guns or horses and hunted buffaloes with stone-headed spears and arrows. At that time the Crown Nation had a great leader named Crow Chief who hated people because he wanted to be chief over everyone. Whenever the people would hunt buffalo, Crow Chief would fly off with is followers and warn the buffaloes, calling "Caw-caw-caw!" The people pray for help and their prayers are answered when Falling Star comes to camp.

The point of "Crow Chief: A Plains Indian Story" is not just that Falling Star comes up with a way of trapping Crow Chief, but that he does so not simply to get revenge on the mischievous bird but to establish a harmonious relationship between the people and the crows that creates a Golden Age for the Plains Indians. The crow is an important figure in the mythology of the Plains Indians since only Crow was left alive when the old world was covered with water and it was his "caw-cawing" that made the Creator notice and create land so he had a place to rest. At the end of this book Goble provides examples of old songs about the Crow from the Lakota and Arapaho. As always, Goble's striking illustrations capture the style of the Native American artists of the 19th century, but with a modern sense of flair. I have really come to enjoy his stylized artwork, which always lends a sense of authenticity to these stories.