At 43 Abe is back on the Rez, a place he figured he wouldn't see again after his beloved Tota's funeral. Awaiting a diagnosis for his progressive skin disease, he felt he had to return, perhaps to die. His grand-uncle was a reputed healer, a skill that Abe could only mock. When he finally got the diagnosis, he was told the auto-immune disease he had was very rare, and it had no cure.
Life in Ahkwesahsne, upstate at the New York/Canadian border was tough on a kid and when he got the chance to go to Syracuse for college he took it. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his education, but after the first few weeks, decided to do something bohemian and artistic, which is when he met Alex East, the love of his life. She was beautiful in a WASPish way, which contrasted with Abe's Mohawk looks and his long braid. He majored in literature and wrote poetry, attending poetry slams as his alter ego Dominick Deer Woods. absolutely killing it against hecklers.
After two years of college, Alex got a job in Miami and Abe followed. They married and made a life for themselves-she got her teaching license and he managed a large bookstore. But the steroids that Abe's doctors prescribed for him were making him crazy and he didn't want to put Alex in danger. When he returned to the Rez, gaunt and in pain, his parents begged him to let Uncle Budge help him-what did he have to lose? But in order to be healed Abe had to believe and that was one of the skills that he lacked.
This semi-autobiographical novel immerses the reader in the culture and close family life of the Mohawks of the St. Regis Tribe (as the white people would say.) It is a fascinating look at a young man as he copes with a life spent searching for his place in the world, while possibly running out of time to find it. Beautifully written, Curtis weaves Abe's matter-of-fact existence with Deer Woods' poetic interludes, to give the reader a glimpse of a man in conflict with his world and with himself. Utterly unique, it's a book well worth reading.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
May 6, 2025
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