by James A. Starkey Jr. (Author)
Not since Alex Haley's Roots has a story probed so deeply into the intimate details of an indigenous American family. Inspired by the events of this Native American author's descendants, Back to the Blanket chronicles seven generations of his Ojibwe "roots." But just as importantly, it places the events within the context of a tumultuous time in American History - a time when Western European Civilization was gaining enormous inroads in the Americas and leaving in its wake a devastating clash of cultures. But this story is not about typical Indian-White confrontations - bloody, violent, avaricious Indian battles. It reveals a more subtle, yet just as deleterious, subjugation of a people through the proliferation of White trade goods, overzealous missionaries, diseases for which there were no cures, and the most contemptible allurement of all - alcohol.