Rites of Passage Psychology of Female Power A Manual for Young African-American Women, Medi... Book

Charbonneau-Man of Two Dreams by Win Blevins is a beautifully written story woven in and around Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, born of Sacajawea and his French-Canadian father, Toussaint, who was born at the Lewis and Clark winter camp, Ft. Mandan, ND in 1805. A fur trapper, Toussaint was far less support for the westward expedition to the Pacific than was the better-known Sacajawea (a Lemhi Shoshone), who provided excellent trail guidance as well as interpretive services in dealing with the other tribes of the northwest. It was Clark who took a vested interest in the boy he nicknamed "Pomp" (Shoshone for "first born") and became his guardian. Blevins notes at the beginning of the book, "...I have played free with history where it suited my dramatic and thematic purposes." While he admits that he made the character more sophisticated than his actual historical personage did, he definitely changed the whole scene of his ending, including allowing him 10 more years than he actually lived. There is a lot of poetic license in this account of an historic figure of our early northwest development, so much so that he is the only child (along with his mother) to ever be depicted on a US (gold) dollar coin. Still, Blevins catches the major events in the man's life, most particularly Clark's insistence on Baptiste's education, and his introduction to a German prince who took him home to Germany and introduced him to royal society as well as traveled to Africa. When he returned to the frontier, he was fluent in German, Spanish, and French (as well as the language of the tribes he was acquainted with through his mother). Baptiste went on to enjoy a number of vocations, including guiding and trapping and spent his years in the high mountains of the rugged northwest. Blevins includes notes from the journals of Lewis and Clark, as well as letters, and peripheral historical documents. Interesting were the recitals of native songs, though I doubt Charbonneau was as gifted musically as might be Blevins himself. I downloaded this book from an offering on BookBub and recognized the author's name that I've read and reviewed previously. Really, it is a touching and emotional tribute to the native peoples and a personal bow of acknowledgement to Charbonneau for his contribution. Recommended for a compelling fiction read.