First Nation Canadians celebrate National Aboriginal Day today. Since Renee Duke and Marva Dasef both have Native/First Nation characters, we thought it would be nice if they had a chat. Here's Mitch from "Eagle Quest" and Skookaweethp from "The Spirit Rose."
Bear Friend: Hi, I’m Mitch, also known as Alisoqualvdi Unalii. That’s in Cherokee and kind of hard to say, just call me Bear Friend. I didn’t know what it was until long after the events we’re describing here.
I couldn’t tell my friends the whole story of my encounter with the bear in the Wildlife Refuge. What I could tell them is in the book, “Eagle Quest” by Marva Dasef.
There are a couple of reasons I haven’t told the whole story. First off, Fiona, Hap, and Billy wouldn’t believe I sort of spoke with the bear in my mind. They let that go, figuring if I wanted to believe it what was the harm.
The main reason, though, is a lot weirder than that. To explain what happened, I needed to have a special person here to help me out. Someone you can read about in another book, “The Spirit Rose”, by Renee Duke. I didn’t quite know how to ask this person here. I mean, it’s not like I could call her up on my phone. But she must have known I wanted her help again, because she talked to me in a dream. She said, if I sat real quiet, and really concentrated, she’d come through to my mind. So that’s what I’m going to do…Are you there, Sk…um,,,Skoo…?
Skwkwwilp: I am here.
Bear Friend: Can you help me pronounce your name and then explain what went down when I met the bear in the clearing?
Skwkwwilp: My name? Hmm. You would perhaps find it easiest to say Skook-a-weeth-p. It is good to be with you again, Alisoqualvdi Unalii.”
Bear Friend: You pronounced my name right and everything, but maybe just call me Bear Friend or Mitch since this is in English. Could you tell the readers who you are, where you’re from, and, for that matter, when you’re from?
Skookaweethp: If by where I come from, you mean a location, I am from what people of your time know as the Okanagan Valley. As to when…just think of it as long, long ago. Millennia ago.
Bear Friend: Before you describe your part in this incident, I’ll set up the situation. Basically, my friends and I were wandering around the wildlife refuge when we come to a clearing. There’s a huge tree fallen in the way. Before we could even get to it, a big black bear looked up over the log. It scared all of us. The others took off, but I heard, maybe that’s not the right word, I felt something that made me stay. That’s when you showed up, out of, like, nowhere, which was a really good thing because, otherwise, I think that bear would not have listened to reason. I didn’t hear you say anything, but the bear sure did. Right after you talked in its head or whatever you did, it came right up to me, sniffed a bit, and looked me right in the eye.
Skookaweethp: The bear was wiser than you think. And not there by chance. It was looking for you. Your spirit guide, the friendly spirit which now protects you and seeks to help you find your way, required a living form. I had asked the bear to allow it to take its form.
Bear Friend: Yeah, when the bear talked in my head, it said we’d be connected from then onward. All other bears would recognize me and think of me as their friend. It just about blew my mind!
Skookaweethp: Through your spirit guide, all bears are now indeed connected to you. This is because the manner in which a bear lives its life is one which you, too, should follow. A bear is strong, and fearless, but not constantly active. Just as a bear goes off to hibernate, you, too, should withdraw from others from time to time, to contemplate your life’s path.
Bear Friend: Cool. I wanted to learn more about spirit animals when we met, but you said you had to leave to help some other kids from this time. Did you have a bear go to them, too?
Skookaweethp: Yes. Though it was not, like yours, a black one. A bear and other creatures protected Paige, Dane, and Jack from the disruptor, thus enabling them to reach me and claim the power of the golden circle long held for them.
Bear Friend: The disruptor?
Skookaweethp: He who sought to interfere with their destinies. And still so seeks.
Bear Friend: So, they’re not through having trouble with him yet?
Skookaweethp: Alas, no.
Bear Friend: Too bad. He must be a really bad dude if it took a lot of spirit animals to see him off. I’m glad I’ve got a bear for mine. I’ve got a lot to think about. I hope we can connect again sometime in the future. See you later.
Skookaweethp: Past, present, and future are as one, Bear Friend. Until the time of our next connection, farewell.
SPIRIT ROSE Buy on Amazon
Paige, Dane, and Jack’s spirit animal adventures are recounted in “The Spirit Rose” (Book 3 of the Time Rose series), which is available through Chapters and Barnes and Noble bookstores, or at:
http://www.redtuquebooks.ca/publishers/books/distribution/1203
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/the-spirit-rose or
https://store.kobobooks.com/ebook/the-spirit-rose
The discovery of an old book provides more information on the medallion, but Paige and Dane will soon be returning to Canada and know it will be several months before they can make another time trip with their cousin Jack. Then, amidst all the preparations for Grantie Etta's one hundred and fifth birthday party, strange things start to happen.
As a result Jack, too, must go to Canada. Once there, it soon becomes apparent that the only way for the Time Rose Travellers to stop the increasingly distressing alterations to their modern-day lives is to venture far into the Okanagan Valley's past and locate the syilx girl who has the legendary Arcanus Piece.
EAGLE QUEST Free on Smashwords with Coupon LD28T
(Free on Amazon June 21-22)
(
Free on Amazon July 11-13)
A Vision Quest turns deadly when four friends confront eagle poachers in a wildlife refuge.
Fiona, Hap, Billy, and Mitch make an odd set of friends, as different from the usual junior high school crowd as they are from each other.
Mitch, the oldest of the four, is a half-breed Native American, adopted by white parents. Troubled that he doesn't know his tribe, he avidly studies Native American history and lore. Learning the nearby Bear Valley Wildlife Refuge is a bald eagle nesting site, he wants to add an eagle feather to his medicine bag and explore the refuge as a site for his Vision Quest, a Native American rite of passage. He and his three friends get far more than an overnight camp out as they encounter a black bear, a retired forest ranger living in the refuge, and a pair of eagle poachers. Bringing the poachers to justice, they test their courage and gain confidence in themselves and each other.
