Craig Kee Strete

Paint Your Face on a Drowning in the River Craig Kee Strete

Tall Horse and Joseph Little Eagle are rivals for Nila, with whom they have grown up. In a poignant love story, they face not only the normal conflicts of a triangle situation, but are torn by the pressures innate in reservation life-the fierce loyalty to their own as against the lure of the outside. And, in a sense, it is the outside world that decides their fate. The story of the young people runs concurrently with the drama of Tall Horse's grandparents, Old Cat and his wife. To them the ultimate tragedy is Tall Horse's views of the outside world. "We are not afraid of dying," the old woman says, "we are afraid of dying out."Craig Strete, himself a native American, gives us a compelling look at life on an Indian reservation. He writes with passion and humor, and his characters speak urgently in voices that must be heard. The poetic title of this vivid, sensitive novel is an Ojibway saying. It means, "You are killing me."