The Wampum Keeper

Canadian Book Review Annual 2002 Set in 1651 in the Niagara region of Ontario and New York State, this work of historical fiction recounts the trials and tribulations of a Chonnonton wampum keeper and his family after their community is attacked by an Iroquois League army. Interwoven with the family's physical struggle for survival is the psychological struggle of the Niagara natives to understand, and come to terms with, the "One God" theology imposed by the French Jesuits. An introduction by the author helps us to understand the historical basis of the novel, particularly the custom of ritual cannibalism, the traditional role of the wampum keeper, and the effects of European contact (particularly with respect to alcohol, disease, and trading) on Native American culture. Montague describes her fascination with her historical topic as a "germ" that fuelled her quest to understand. As readers, we come to share her fascination. — Gillian Kajganich Ontario Historical Society OHS Bulletin Issue 139, April 2003. This is a fictional but well-researched account of the terrible dilemma of the Niagara region's aboriginal peoples in the mid-17th century. Shalinka, the wampum keeper and leader of his small clan, is torn with doubt as to how to save his followers. It is a time of crippling stress as his People of the Deer struggle to come to terms with the new life brought by the French traders with their 'marvellous' trade goods. Even less welcome are the Black Robes with their strange new religion and their horrendous diseases. War with their traditional enemies, the Iroquois, is intensified. In desperation, many of Shalinka's people want to join the Iroquois confederation; others want to fight to the death, mistrusting the duplicity of their enemies. It is a tale of strange visions, of treachery, of warfare and death by torture. Shalinka's longing for peace seems doomed. — Pat Raible