Peace Walker: The Legend of Hiawatha and Tekanawita

The Iroquois Confederacy was one of the world’s great democra-cies, serving as a model that inspired the founders of both the United States and Canada. C. J. Taylor has drawn on her Mohawk heritage and versions of the story she has gathered from elders to tell the story of the Confederacy of Five Nations (which became six after European contact) and of the heroic peace walker, Hiawatha, in powerful prose and dramatic art.

Peace Walker is the story of how peace and unity emerged from a time of chaos when the nations suffered under the brutality of Chief Atotahara – a man so evil that he drank potions from the skull of a small child.

Hiawatha’s story has been told in many versions, but none have the ring of authenticity and passion of C. J. Taylor’s remarkable book.

C.J. Taylor is an internationally acclaimed artist and children’s author of Mohawk heritage. She has traveled extensively throughout North America helping make the rich cultural history of native people accessible to the young. Her paintings are in many private collections across Canada and the US. She is a self-taught artist and storyteller who has organized exhibitions of Native art across North America. Peace Walker is C.J. Taylor’s tenth book. She lives near the Kahnawake Reserve outside Montreal.