The Arrow Keeper's Song

by Kerry Newcomb

Tom Sandcrane must navigate the narrow path between his Cheyenne heritage and the white man’s worldFor generations, the Sandcrane men have served their tribe as the keepers of the Sacred Arrows. When the time comes for Seth Sandcrane to pass the responsibility on to his son Tom, he waits with pride for his son to assume his place among the elders of the tribe. But Tom wants nothing to do with Sacred Arrows, ancient traditions, and the mystical heritage of the Cheyenne. It is 1896; the nation is growing, and Tom wants a place in the white man’s world.He takes a job in the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a go-between for the government and the Cheyenne. When bureaucratic treachery forces Tom to become an outlaw, he must flee the land of his birth. As America teeters on the brink of the Spanish-American War, Tom Sandcrane will learn to fight—not with sacred arrows, but with a Colt .38.

456 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

Kerry Newcomb was raised in Texas. He has served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and taught at the St. Labre Mission School on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. Mr. Newcomb has written plays, film scripts, commercials, liturgical dramas, and over thirty novels under both his own name and a variety of pseudonyms. He lives with his family in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Arrow Keepers Song" turned out to be a contrast between what I thought was an interesting look into the cultural and spiritual history of America's Cheyenne people along with a storyline that was at times both uneven or improbable. Tom Sandcrane, a boarding school educated and full blooded son of a tribal leader is the story's protagonist and a character full of contradictions as he is caught between the ancestral ways of the past and the struggle to cope with the white man's takeover of the native Cheyenne lands. Switching between the Oklahoma territory of the 1890's and the bloody battles in Cuba during the Spanish American War, the story follows Tom Sandcrane as he is heroic but also a victim of his tribal instincts. This book is both a history lesson and a romantic novel but fails at times to do justice to either.

[patricia sendelbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing story about a Native American rediscovering his heritage and sharing it with others. It also looks at a time of our history with a very different perspective.

[Mande Garrett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnfed this bad boy. Made it to page 197 chapter 24.
It dragged on too dang much and not enough action to keep me going.