The middle grade novel Peacemaker by Joseph Bruchac (published 2021) tells the legend of the mysterious man who, with Hiawatha, spread peace throughout the Iroquoian nations many hundreds of years ago. Prior to his coming, the various Iroquois people violent raided and kidnapped each other. In the novel, young Okwaho faces the reality of his friend’s kidnapping even in the wake of their family’s own desperate fleeing from a more violent clan. It seems they cannot escape the violence long enough to live their lives! Okwaho is therefore more than ready to hear a message of peace.
The book is mostly Okwaho’s story. Interspersed within is a collection of traditional stories about the Peacemaker and those who surround him. (Interestingly, one story tells how the Peacemaker was born of a virgin girl. I’m not sure what to make of that echo of Christian tradition.) There is a story of a frog and snake eating each other, for example, that shows how violence is a cycle that ends up destroying all. The Peacemaker demonstrates his authority by not being able to be killed in some other stories. His authority gives strength to his message that people must live in peace. With the support of all the clans, the Peacemaker and the others can approach the wicked Atatarho and proclaim once and for all that the Five Nations want peace, not war.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is a long-held part of history. Long before colonial America, native Americans were united under a confederacy of peace that remained for hundreds of years. Although the full facts are yet unknown to us, learning of the traditions of the Iroquois people is an essential way to better understand the America that had been. I loved the powerful image of hundreds of white bark canoes approaching a fearsome leader. Okwaho’s story fills an important space in the middle grade market. I want to know more, in fact, and wish there were a novel for young adults or adults that would expand upon this brief story. (It is a slim 160 pages, and I wanted more!)
