Breathtakingly good. It takes a tremendous amount of clarity and insight to write a story of a mental reckoning and discovery of self. It's not a book for those desiring an action-heavy plotline, but it's a stunning exploration of seeing the world and the self clearly and with conscience. ( )

16-year-old Omishto, one of only 30 Taiga Indians remaining, joins with her friend, Ama, a reclusive, strong Taiga woman who is considerably older. After a hurricane Ama tracks and kills a panther; Omishto follows along. Of course, she is tried by the federal game wardens for killing the endangered cat. But more importantlyk, she is tried by the tribal elders for disobeying tribal law in killing the sacred symbol of the Panther Clan without their permission, and the appropriate ceremonies.

16-year-old Omishto, one of only 30 Taiga Indians remaining, joins with her friend, Ama, a reclusive, strong Taiga woman who is considerably older. After a hurricane Ama tracks and kills a panther; Omishto follows along. Of course, she is tried by the federal game wardens for killing the endangered cat. But more importantly, she is tried by the tribal elders for disobeying tribal law in killing the sacred symbol of the Panther Clan without their permission, and the appropriate ceremonies.

The book is full of mysticism. The language is beautiful and graceful.

But I was left with many questions. ( )

Full of powerful images--I wanted to copy so many, to be sure to remember them, for inspiration, strength, knowledge of the right way to live, that there are still people who believe we are not here to dominate but to live in relationship with the life around us. Yes, Hogan also writes poems, but every book of hers I've read comes from a core of inner strength. A quote for us aging hippies: "...but they are the children of those who were alive from the deaths of others and so I do not look at them even though they are right..." --easier to hear it this way, than in the words Winona LaDuke used ([recovering the sacred] see that review). Here's a lesson quote "She is always in a hurry. Ama calls it time sickness, a disease of this time and world. Everyone missing life in their hurrying. But maybe the world exists in layers and all time is here at once; I am my ancestors, and they foresaw me."
Or, think of all the wisdom in this "Maybe Ama is no different from any woman or man in any people's history, I think. And if she is capable of such things, then I am too, in this lengthening light, the last slivers of day, this passing time where the no-name birds fly over, the birds Ama said are just birds, just themselves, not names, but birds whole and delicate and alive."
There are pages full of teachings. Listen to them: "Back in the days of the first people, the beginning of wind was the first breathing of one of the turbulent Gods, they say. ...Oni, first and foremost is the word for wind and air. It is a power every bit as strong as gravity, as strong as a sun you can't look at but know is there. It tells a story. Through air, words and voices are carried. Usually it is invisible. Only today I can see it. It is moving shadows. Its hands are laid down on every living thing. The plants that create it are held inside it and moved by it. In the presence of air, every living thing is moved. It is greatness, they say. Like other Gods, it is everywhere at once....." ( )