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Abraham's Well
A young mother and her son struggle to hold on to their dreams through decades of heartbreaking separations, re-locations, and escapes.
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
April 1, 2018
When living in Cherokee County read books about the Cherokees, well, read them anyway.
This was a story of Armentia, a black slave girl in the Cherokee tribe who was forced from her home and taken on the Trail of Tears along with the Indians back in 1838. She was taken to Tahlequah, OK and then sold into slavery. She had a very hard life that actually didn’t get better until she was very old, and then like all of us, old age isn’t that great either.
Since writing this review the first time, I wish to add that when slavery had ended the Cherokees sent the African slaves away, and they were then no longer part of their tribe. In recent years the African American Cherokees began fighting to become members of the tribe again. They won; the Cherokees finally took them in.
Very little has been written about slavery within the Indian tribes. You might find them in Pioneer books. Well, I actually have some 99 cent books that I found on line and have read and reviewed here, but they are ll about kidnapping white children, and if I recall correctly, they were not always made into slaves. But this is the only one that my friend found on the subject and asked our book group to read.
Update, March 2028: This last month she and I went to the Black church to listen to Harold Aldridge, a black psychologist/blues singer/cowboy because he was going to be there. He is much loved in our town and always draws a crowd, but maybe I am over exaggerating, but he desires to be bragged about. He gave a talk on Black history, and on the Black towns in Oklahoma. And then another man, Ty Wilson, gave a talk about the Black Cherokees and their fight to get recognized by and included in the tribe. I bought the book he and Karen Coody Cooper edited, Oklahoma Black Cherokees. Hopefully, I will get around to reading it and then do a review on it. It is on my short reading list.
Here is an article on Harold Aldridge in our paper:
http://www.claremoreprogress.com/okla...
I did a term paper in college on The Trail of Tears and also worked on my family tree for a college project because I had relatives that had been on the Trail of Tears. And now I live in the Cherokee Nation where they took Armentia, the main character in this book. When we moved here my sister said, "You are going back to your roots."
Also, I couldn't help but be put off by the preaching in this book, because the Christians tried to destroy the Native American culture and almost took away his religion and in many cases had. I didn't have a as bad of taste in my mouth in regards to Christianity until I moved here and found that you had to keep your beliefs to yourself if you were not Christian, and that is what many of the American Indians do as well, and when they were first subjugated they were forced to become Christians and their children were taken away from their families. Still, this was a good book to read.
This was a story of Armentia, a black slave girl in the Cherokee tribe who was forced from her home and taken on the Trail of Tears along with the Indians back in 1838. She was taken to Tahlequah, OK and then sold into slavery. She had a very hard life that actually didn’t get better until she was very old, and then like all of us, old age isn’t that great either.
Since writing this review the first time, I wish to add that when slavery had ended the Cherokees sent the African slaves away, and they were then no longer part of their tribe. In recent years the African American Cherokees began fighting to become members of the tribe again. They won; the Cherokees finally took them in.
Very little has been written about slavery within the Indian tribes. You might find them in Pioneer books. Well, I actually have some 99 cent books that I found on line and have read and reviewed here, but they are ll about kidnapping white children, and if I recall correctly, they were not always made into slaves. But this is the only one that my friend found on the subject and asked our book group to read.
Update, March 2028: This last month she and I went to the Black church to listen to Harold Aldridge, a black psychologist/blues singer/cowboy because he was going to be there. He is much loved in our town and always draws a crowd, but maybe I am over exaggerating, but he desires to be bragged about. He gave a talk on Black history, and on the Black towns in Oklahoma. And then another man, Ty Wilson, gave a talk about the Black Cherokees and their fight to get recognized by and included in the tribe. I bought the book he and Karen Coody Cooper edited, Oklahoma Black Cherokees. Hopefully, I will get around to reading it and then do a review on it. It is on my short reading list.
Here is an article on Harold Aldridge in our paper:
http://www.claremoreprogress.com/okla...
I did a term paper in college on The Trail of Tears and also worked on my family tree for a college project because I had relatives that had been on the Trail of Tears. And now I live in the Cherokee Nation where they took Armentia, the main character in this book. When we moved here my sister said, "You are going back to your roots."
Also, I couldn't help but be put off by the preaching in this book, because the Christians tried to destroy the Native American culture and almost took away his religion and in many cases had. I didn't have a as bad of taste in my mouth in regards to Christianity until I moved here and found that you had to keep your beliefs to yourself if you were not Christian, and that is what many of the American Indians do as well, and when they were first subjugated they were forced to become Christians and their children were taken away from their families. Still, this was a good book to read.
Read
August 5, 2022DNF. This one started off great, and the description of the Trail Of Tears was heart-rending. A few chapters after that the plot just slowed and then quit.
August 8, 2011
Seriously talented author who should not be ignored.
March 31, 2013
Although I don't normally read Christian fiction because I don't like novels that are too overtly didactic, I am very interested in books that deal with Afro-Natives. That's why I chose to read and review Abraham's Well by Sharon Ewell Foster which is the story of an Afro-Cherokee woman who was born a slave in a Cherokee family.
Armentia, the central character of Abraham's Well was brought up among the North Carolina Cherokees believing herself a part of the Cherokee nation. When most of the Cherokees were expelled from North Carolina and forced to walk The Trail of Tears to Oklahoma, Armentia and other Afro-Cherokees endured the same privations as full-blooded Cherokees. I should have realized this. I knew that the Cherokees were a slave-holding people and that there were Afro-Cherokees among these slaves, but I had never previously read or viewed any portrayal of the Trail of Tears that depicted Afro-Cherokees. When a minority is written out of history, no one imagines that they participated in events.
I'm glad that I read Abraham's Well because of its Afro-Cherokee perspective even though there was a great deal of sermonizing. I found the novel moving at various points, but I now want to read history on this subject. I expect to read Ties That Bind, a study about an Afro-Cherokee family by Tiya Miles in the near future.
For my complete review, see my March 2013 "A Novel From An Afro-Cherokee Perspective" at http://www.maskedpersona.blogspot.com
Armentia, the central character of Abraham's Well was brought up among the North Carolina Cherokees believing herself a part of the Cherokee nation. When most of the Cherokees were expelled from North Carolina and forced to walk The Trail of Tears to Oklahoma, Armentia and other Afro-Cherokees endured the same privations as full-blooded Cherokees. I should have realized this. I knew that the Cherokees were a slave-holding people and that there were Afro-Cherokees among these slaves, but I had never previously read or viewed any portrayal of the Trail of Tears that depicted Afro-Cherokees. When a minority is written out of history, no one imagines that they participated in events.
I'm glad that I read Abraham's Well because of its Afro-Cherokee perspective even though there was a great deal of sermonizing. I found the novel moving at various points, but I now want to read history on this subject. I expect to read Ties That Bind, a study about an Afro-Cherokee family by Tiya Miles in the near future.
For my complete review, see my March 2013 "A Novel From An Afro-Cherokee Perspective" at http://www.maskedpersona.blogspot.com
March 12, 2024
A very moving story of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Formerly, I hadn't been aware that the Cherokees held black slaves, but they did, and when the Cherokees were "removed," their slaves were forced along the trail with them. This is the story of a little slave girl whose life is forever changed during one of the most heinous episodes in our country's history. Armintia is only about 8 when the story begins; she is doted on by her slave master and mistress and treated almost as a daughter. But as tensions rise around them, both slaves and masters are swept into a tide of events that cannot be stopped. Slaves and masters together are rounded up and penned like animals, while their homes and possessions are wantonly destroyed. They are marched from fort to fort, in the winter, mostly barefoot, with only thin blankets between themselves and the icy cold. Over 4,000 people died during the forced thousand-mile march to Indian Territory, where both natives and slaves were dumped into a melting pot of poverty-stricken humanity. Even then, they were not allowed to direct their own lives, as this is when the civil war began. Soldiers were everywhere, regulating everything people did. Armintia loses everyone she loves, one at a time: her parents, her friends, even a son conceived by rape who is sold away from her. As an old woman, she looks back on her life and sees both the bad and the good. It is a sobering, but encouraging read and I would recommend it, especially for anyone who is interested in this period of history.
September 19, 2017
I really liked this book. It was a piece of history as well as a novel, and I very much liked the main character, a young woman of mixed Native and African American origins. The story detailed her experience during the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from their ancestral home east of the Mississippi River through several of the southern states to a new home in Oklahoma Territory. It is a story of personal endurance in the face of soul crushing tragedy, yet it remains inspirational through the strength of the main character to endure. The story carries on through the Civil War and emancipation of the slaves. I felt a strong connection to the char sideacters here through my father's side of the family. There is Cherokee ancestry in my family on my father's although it is substantially diluted in me and mixed with eastern European Jewish ancestry on my mother's side. In a broader, generalized sense, this ancestry bears striking similarity to the Cherokee, and it seems ironic that my personal ancestry should derive from a confluence of both streams. It is not a joyful book, as you might imagine, and I read it in small sessions over what seemed like an unusually long time for my general reading habits.
I would recommend this book to anyone with interest in American History, Native American History, African American History, slavery, women's self-realization, settlement of the American West , and related topics.
I would recommend this book to anyone with interest in American History, Native American History, African American History, slavery, women's self-realization, settlement of the American West , and related topics.
July 15, 2014
This story is about Armentia. She is Black. She is Cherokee. She is enslaved. As a Native American in the Cherokee nation during the 1830s she is among thousands of (Ameri-Indian, African American, and mixed) people forced to leave their mineral rich and arable lands in the name of Manifest Destiny. When President Andrew Jackson ushered the Indian Removal Act into law all Ameri-Indian nations/tribes/groups who refused to cede their ancestral lands to white settlers they were banished to Indian Territory.
Thousands of men, women, and children were taken at gun point from their homes in the Southeast (Florida, Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee,Georgia)by the military. They were escorted across the country on a journey that became known as The Trail of Tears. This euphemism is an injustice to the thousands who died during this forced migration. Imagine everything you know about concentration camps, ethnic cleansing, and chattel slavery twisted together into one horrific experience.
This is what Armentia has to endure. She must suffer the indignities of being someones property and disenfranchised citizens. Her loved ones are sold and auctioned off. Her culture is outlawed. Her family is literally torn apart a million times, but through it all she holds on to her faith.
Thousands of men, women, and children were taken at gun point from their homes in the Southeast (Florida, Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee,Georgia)by the military. They were escorted across the country on a journey that became known as The Trail of Tears. This euphemism is an injustice to the thousands who died during this forced migration. Imagine everything you know about concentration camps, ethnic cleansing, and chattel slavery twisted together into one horrific experience.
This is what Armentia has to endure. She must suffer the indignities of being someones property and disenfranchised citizens. Her loved ones are sold and auctioned off. Her culture is outlawed. Her family is literally torn apart a million times, but through it all she holds on to her faith.
July 4, 2013
Many know about the Trail of Tears and the constant harassment of the Native American Tribes by the white settlers who came and had no claim to their land, but took it anyway, wherever they went. Many know about the story of slavery and how African Americans were treated by their white owners and their struggles for freedom. But many do not know about the often untold story of those who were slaves among the tribes, how they were treated and what their lives were like. How many readers are aware that there were African American slaves walking the trail of tears?
This story is told from the perspective of a slave, a girl owned by a Cherokee family, who treat her as family, until times change and the time of removal comes closer. I found the change in the characters as they experience this history-in-the-making to be true and honest. The storytelling style of the main character reminded me deeply of the Cherokee stories and telling-styles that I had told to me in the past.
Living in North Carolina, I frequently visit the Cherokee reservation, but even I learned some history by reading this book. The way the author has to describe the removal, the camps and the long walk is amazing in its simplistic-potency. I doubt that any others could say as much with so few words and still hit the point straight to the heart and mind. The end of the book is a little contrived, but that didn't take the emotion away as I discovered what happened to the characters in the story, it only reminded me that this was a fictional family who lived life in a real time in the past. The joys were mine and the final sorrows of knowing that they wouldn't know what I knew were just as real as each character felt in my heart. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an enjoyable read to bring hope through the sadness of history.
This story is told from the perspective of a slave, a girl owned by a Cherokee family, who treat her as family, until times change and the time of removal comes closer. I found the change in the characters as they experience this history-in-the-making to be true and honest. The storytelling style of the main character reminded me deeply of the Cherokee stories and telling-styles that I had told to me in the past.
Living in North Carolina, I frequently visit the Cherokee reservation, but even I learned some history by reading this book. The way the author has to describe the removal, the camps and the long walk is amazing in its simplistic-potency. I doubt that any others could say as much with so few words and still hit the point straight to the heart and mind. The end of the book is a little contrived, but that didn't take the emotion away as I discovered what happened to the characters in the story, it only reminded me that this was a fictional family who lived life in a real time in the past. The joys were mine and the final sorrows of knowing that they wouldn't know what I knew were just as real as each character felt in my heart. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an enjoyable read to bring hope through the sadness of history.
October 25, 2012
If I am an expert on any historical subject, it is the Cherokee Trail of Tears. So I was glad to discover a novel that includes this painful period in the telling of one woman’s life. Sharon Ewell Foster’s main character, Armentia, is a child when forced to march to Indian Territory in 1838. This particular version of the story begins earlier, and ends much later than that year, however, and the author manages to fit a lot of history into this narrative.
As with any story, there are many perspectives on the Trail of Tears. Armentia is Cherokee and African American, one of the many slaves that Cherokees (in their desire to assimilate) owned. So Armentia suffers not only the persecution that 16,000 Cherokees suffered, but an additional degradation, at times from the people who considered themselves her owners. Armentia is an old woman when she tells her story, which ends with the Oklahoma land rush of 1889.
The author’s research has been thorough, though no period is told in exacting detail, but through the emotional lens of memory. Few besides me would know that one of the Cherokee Baptist preachers in whose mouth she put anti-slavery words was himself a slaveowner until he died several years after the Trail of Tears. I hope that when my own young adult novel about the Cherokee Trail of Tears is told, others will be gentle with me if there are errors and inconsistencies such as in this book. Authors of historical fiction work hard to be accurate, but history is a slippery thing to grasp.
As with any story, there are many perspectives on the Trail of Tears. Armentia is Cherokee and African American, one of the many slaves that Cherokees (in their desire to assimilate) owned. So Armentia suffers not only the persecution that 16,000 Cherokees suffered, but an additional degradation, at times from the people who considered themselves her owners. Armentia is an old woman when she tells her story, which ends with the Oklahoma land rush of 1889.
The author’s research has been thorough, though no period is told in exacting detail, but through the emotional lens of memory. Few besides me would know that one of the Cherokee Baptist preachers in whose mouth she put anti-slavery words was himself a slaveowner until he died several years after the Trail of Tears. I hope that when my own young adult novel about the Cherokee Trail of Tears is told, others will be gentle with me if there are errors and inconsistencies such as in this book. Authors of historical fiction work hard to be accurate, but history is a slippery thing to grasp.
February 13, 2011
Having worked with Sharon back in my Air Force days, I try to make sure I read all her work, but somehow I let this one slip past me. I don't normally read much Inspirational Fiction, but Sharon is a stand-out who won the Christy Award for her first book, "Passing by Samaria." Anyway, I finally picked up "Abraham's Well" and it is just beautiful. She tells the story of Armentia, who takes the reader on a truly moving tale of the Black Cherokee (a group I'd not heard of before), who were forced to walk the Trail of Tears. You will find yourself rooting for Armentia while gasping in amazement at her courage and tenacity. The Trail of Tears was truly a shameful period in American history and those that survived it deserve to have their voices heard. This is one of those books that will stay with you long after you've finished it.
February 3, 2022
Loved this book
"It is not what a man wears that makes him wise and true, they said. It is what is in the man's heart."
"Though we were all together in that place, the Trail Where We Cried was like a line, some kind of fence between us that separated our people."
"Everybody needs to feel better thans somebody."
"Inside of me I wondered how they could keep praying to one who did not love us, one who loved white man more."
"But I was a child then, and like children, I couldn't stand to always be sad. There was no difference then, just like today children hunger to laugh. So, a bird flying overhead, a crooked stick on the ground, a squirrel running up a tree- they were all excuses for us children not to cry. They were all excuses for us to laugh, or play, or imagine that we were somewhere else."
"It is not what a man wears that makes him wise and true, they said. It is what is in the man's heart."
"Though we were all together in that place, the Trail Where We Cried was like a line, some kind of fence between us that separated our people."
"Everybody needs to feel better thans somebody."
"Inside of me I wondered how they could keep praying to one who did not love us, one who loved white man more."
"But I was a child then, and like children, I couldn't stand to always be sad. There was no difference then, just like today children hunger to laugh. So, a bird flying overhead, a crooked stick on the ground, a squirrel running up a tree- they were all excuses for us children not to cry. They were all excuses for us to laugh, or play, or imagine that we were somewhere else."
September 15, 2008
This was a wonderful book, definitely among the top I have read over the last couple of years. It was a sad look at slavery among the Cherokee nation. It was heartbreaking, especially to think of the way slaves were cruelly separated from their families... imagine your little girl or boy being taken from you, never to be seen again. A view of many hardships of slavery and the amazing faith that some of these precious people had. This was a great book written by someone with a great faith in Jesus. A very uplifting read.
January 17, 2009
The only reason that made me like this book is the "Trail of Tears" information in the book...since I took this in a history class in college, therefore I had some familiarity with it and to hear it from Sharon's family life...what made it more enriching and some pictures of her native american family members (roots).
September 12, 2014
Superb story written from the viewpoint of a former slave, part Cherokee, forced to walk the Trail of Tears. Amazingly written book.
June 7, 2020
Based on the experiences of real Black Cherokee’s including the authors great aunt, this novel tells the story of Armentia, a young Black Cherokee girl whose family is owned and abused by a rich Cherokee couple, Master Phillip and Mistress Emma. Her life is hard but filled with good memories with her brother, Abraham, and friends Johnny and Golden Bear. But that all changes when Abraham is accused of stealing from Mistress Emma, and is beaten and then sold. Then, a few months later, the Trail of Tears begins, and Armentia’s family and friends are forced upon it. Will she ever find home? Will she ever be free? Will she ever see Abraham again? Will she get a chance to build Abraham’s Well? Will she find love, peace and happiness?
Rating: 5 stars
Recommend: for older readers ages 17+
Warning: some disturbing details about slaves being beaten, clubbed, or executed. Although the author handles it tactfully, Armenia is forced into some sexual abuse encounters with two of her masters, one of which results in a son named Abraham Proof. She later enters into a illegal but happy marriage with a Black slave and their wedding night includes a embarrassing bath that her husband gives her.
Rating: 5 stars
Recommend: for older readers ages 17+
Warning: some disturbing details about slaves being beaten, clubbed, or executed. Although the author handles it tactfully, Armenia is forced into some sexual abuse encounters with two of her masters, one of which results in a son named Abraham Proof. She later enters into a illegal but happy marriage with a Black slave and their wedding night includes a embarrassing bath that her husband gives her.
June 16, 2019
This book’s subject matter, The Trail of Tears, was very interesting to me because for two years I taught Choctaw Indian children in Alabama whose ancestors hid and refused to be moved to Indian territory. For this reason they had to struggle to be recognized as Native Americans, as did the main character in this novel. The author does an excellent job helping the reader experience secondhand what this really felt like for those involved. I did hit a few points in the book where I lost interest a little, took a break, and then resumed reading. Probably closer to 3.5 stars.
October 9, 2020
Very well written book, but hard to read about what happened to the Indians on the Trail of Tears and their lives following that. I am glad someone decided to share the story though as I feel like it's not talked about very often....
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September 4, 2007the story focuses on the character of armentia, as she tells the reader about what it was like for her growing up as a black cherokee. at first she is unaware of her status as a slave, but then her brother is sold and her family forced to evacuate to oklahoma during the time of the trail of tears. foster brings history to life in a powerful way, as this young women is forced to leave her family, give up her son, and endure all sorts of abuse throughout her life. foster documents her research and explains how her own genealogy inspired the story. this is an aspect of history most of us have never been taught and armentia as a person who shared both black and american indian heritage is a fascinating character. some of the events of the book seem contrived, but for the most part this is a very enjoyable read.
June 1, 2009
This book was a moving account of a little known sub-culture of the Cherokee people, the African Cherokee slave. I loved this story...it touched me and made me think about humanity and the morals and values I live by. However, I wish the author could have done a better job at meshing the two cultures together. Armentia, the main character, was not only a black slave but part Cherokee. Instead of one meshed culture, Armentia was portayed as Cherokee at times and as a black slave at times but very few times throughout this story could I identify both cultures working together.
August 4, 2015
I'm not understanding why this book is not in print anymore. What a mistake. I loved the way the author told the story from a 3rd party perspective. A story of the devastating journey called the "Trail of Tears. I cried at the unfairness but rejoiced to see how thru it all they still had hope. Inspiring. This book kept me reading with suspense wondering what next. I cried, hated, laughed, cheered and hoped right along with the characters. I loved this book.
May 2, 2008
A new book that doesn't have many reviews, and should! It was a good book that taught me about the Cherokee/Black people before the Civil War I didn't know about. It is a book similar to "These are my Words", not so much a love story though but similar theme of trials and hardships. The ending was very touching.
August 2, 2009
3.5 stars. I've never actually read a slavery/civil war book and I'm glad to have read this one. I would recommend it as a book club book or as a young-adult school reading book. It does discuss the "N" word, but from a very innocent point of view to be a lesson and not used in an overtly unnessessary way.
August 1, 2008
Based on true events, the story of the Black Cherokees(African Americans both slave and free) who walked the Trail of Tears with the Native Americans. I did not know that the Cherokees had free and slave African Americans with them!
January 6, 2013
This book is about a young, black slave girl and the way she had to survive the Trail of Tears (removal of Natives from their homelands) She does survive, but at what cost? Sad but based on historical facts.
March 21, 2015
This is an engrossing and yet appalling account of the black Cherokees before, on, and in the aftermath of the Trail of Tears. The important historical era is brought to life be a descendant of the main character.
December 30, 2007
Fictional story based on the Trail of Tears and the events following it as told by a mixed black/Indian girl.
July 28, 2008
interesting subject matter. forgettable writing.
September 22, 2008
I actually couldn't finish this book! It was very depressing and the story line moved too slowly. It's a rare thing for me not to finish a book!
Currently reading
June 22, 2009how armentia is going thru changes, with abraham gone now. and their family getting "removed" from their land
May 30, 2010
American history....1830s-1880s....Cherokee/Black slave walks Trail of Tears, endures slavery then freedom.
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