false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1189051264m/1840451.jpg 1840451 1 <b>Thomas Darko is a Mohican for the twentieth century,</b> the last surviving member of the tiny Mosopelea Tribe of the Mississippi Delta, called Ofos by outsiders. Never numbering more than a few hundred people in recorded history, his kinsmen have died away until Thomas comes to think of himself as "a nation of one." Now an old man in the waning years of the century, Thomas tells the story of his rough-and-tumble life--one which saw many of the changes that Indian people have faced in modern America--and he emerges as one of the most endearing characters in contemporary Native American literature. In this subtle but inventive novel, presented as Thomas's memoirs, Geary Hobson offers us a glimpse into a life filled with simple joys and sorrows. In relating his Louisiana childhood, Thomas recalls not just school-learning but being taught Indian ways by the small Ofo community. He tells of his life as a roustabout in the oil fields, of his courtship of the rambunctious Sally Fachette, and of his career as a bootlegger, which landed him in prison. We share Thomas's wartime stint with the Marines--where "for the first time in my life I was treated like a equal"--and his life as a farm laborer and a Hollywood extra portraying warbonneted Cheyennes. Then in his later years, when he truly has become the last of his kind, we find Thomas recruited by an anthropologist from the Smithsonian Institution to preserve his people's culture. In Washington, he is exposed to the vagaries of Indian policy and the emerging Native American movement. Throughout Thomas's story, readers are introduced to a wide-ranging cast of characters, from the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde to a fellow Marine who is wary of Indians, to an uppity anthropologist who doesn't consider Thomas "expert" enough to handle an Ofo flute. Always poor in material wealth but rich in heritage, Thomas Darko is a Native American Everyman whose identity is shaped by family and homeland. His "autobiography" paints a realistic portrait of an Indian confronting the obstacles in his life and the dilemmas of his age as his story reveals the painful legacy of being the last of one's kind. 1840658 1 1 2000 The Last of the Ofos (Sun Tracks, V. 39) total:6|5:1|4:3|3:2|2:0|1:0| 6 23 9 1 4 1 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 10 22:25:48 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 22:37:05 -0700 2008 Ishi, Last of His Tribe. Ishi was considered to be the last speaker of the California Yahi language, and at the time of his death in 1916, anthropologists called him “ The Last Wild Indian in North America.” From James Fennimore...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Nov 24 11:29:05 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 13:23:58 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 24 11:29:05 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jun 17 18:59:04 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 18:59:04 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Feb 22 07:01:31 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 07:01:31 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jul 24 18:19:04 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 24 18:19:04 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri Jul 11 11:05:05 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 11:05:05 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Mon Jun 30 14:51:41 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 30 14:51:41 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sat Sep 08 06:01:43 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 08 06:01:43 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Wed Sep 05 21:01:09 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 05 21:01:09 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1840451