Description
Molly McNair is a high school senior in the Cherokee Nation preparing for the Remember the Removal Ride, an annual event that showcases cyclists retracing the historic Trail of Tears. Her older sister, Emmy, is a professional mixed martial artist in the Ultimate Fight Championship (UFC) and a graduate student who must deal with her past demons both in and out of the ring.
In another time and place, their ancestor, Mary, and her family are forced to travel the Trail of Tears during one of the worst winters in memory. The graphic realities of the Indian removal are brought to the forefront as the Bell Detachment of Cherokees navigates the landscape to the Indian Territory. With each step, the question of who will live and who will die unfolds.
Through these parallel journeys, Molly finds herself in a time continuum relationship with Mary as her problems mount, and she comes to rely on Mary’s guidance more as her life becomes increasingly complex. Molly and Emmy also discover that the strength of Cherokee women is timeless, guiding them to face their struggles head-on.
Bound by sisterhood and spirit, these women prove that their courage can overcome anything, from personal demons to the weight of colonial history.
Kenyon Meeks –
Building on the theme of the Cherokee experience of the Trail of Tears about which he incisively wrote in “Chattahoochee Rain,” Bryan Jackson creatively parallels the experience of a semi-fictional family’s forced migration from Tenneesee to Arkansas in 1838-39 with the present day experience of descendants of that family in Oklahoma. Blending his training in Christian spirituality with his knowledge of Native American spirituality, he powerfully exposes the reality of phsical and sexual assault and murder of women along the Trail of Tears alongside the contemporary experience of the same today. He further introduces us to naturopathic medicine in relation to a character in the book facing breast cancer. In addition to giving us a history lesson related to the Cherokee Nation, Jackson challenges us to stand up for justice along racial lines as the wife of the leader of the Cherokees on the Trail of Tears makes a strong stand against the slave trade in the 1830s. As in
“Chattahoochee Rain,” the strong role of women in the Cherokee culture comes through in “Cherokee Afternoon.” I heartily recommend the reading of “Cherokee Afternoon” as a vivid expression of the Cherokee experience as well as an invitation to grow in our own experience of justice, spirituality, and healthier lifestyles.