Ojibway Drums

Originally published in 1955 Ojibway Drums is a wonderful story about an Ojibway boy-Half Sky. The coming-of-age story serves as a vehicle to describe Native American life in the region that the author, Marian Magoon, spent many summers in a log cabin on her island in Georgian Bay, surrounded on three sides by Indian Reservation mainland. "I have many friends who have told me Indian lore not often told to white men. I feel honored," Mrs. Magoon writes. Approaching manhood, Half Sky's life is centered around the pilgrimage he must make to Dreamer's Rock, there to stay and fast until the vision of his animal spirit comes to him, and, further to qualify himself for the event, he is able to warn his tribe of an impending Iroquois attack. Though a capture occurs, the Ojibway warriors return unharmed. All this against the backdrop of seasonal and daily customs, makes this a wonderful story of family, history, and tradition.