The Way South

The Real People #4

by Robert J. Conley

"No one weaves a tribal story quite like Robert Conley. Conley's books are entertaining, colorful, and chock-full of tribal history and culture."--Wilma P. Mankiller, former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation

Few writers portray Native American life and history as richly, authentically, and insightfully as Robert J. Conley, an important voice of the Cherokee past. The novels in his Real People series combine powerful characters, gripping plots, and vivid descriptions of tradition and mythology to preserve Cherokee culture and history.

In this, the fourth novel of Robert J. Conley's saga of the Real People, Carrier, a young Cherokee trader, comes of age during his first solo trip to the Timucua. The Way South narrates Carrier's efforts to forge an alliance of southern tribes against an incursion of Spanish explorers.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

176 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1993

About the author

Robert J. Conley was a Cherokee author and enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, a federally recognized tribe of American Indians. In 2007, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.

Reviews

[Richard]

I decided to read The Way South after having recently enjoyed Conley’s The Peace Chief. TWS was primarily the story of Carrier and others fighting the Spanish. There were some dramatic moments but, fortunately for me, not too much graphic detail of the violence.

However, the book also included some depictions of the cultural practices and the ceremonies which structured the life of the Native Americans. These involved such things as a betting game, how one was expected to harvest gingseng, the use of tobacco to foster good relations between the men and to appeal to the gods, and the preparations for war. Animals and running water can provide important information about the future. So can consulting with conjurers about the meanings of one’s dreams.

Conley’s prose which largely consisted of direct, declarative sentences made the novel readily readable. The names of some animals and foods as well as greetings in the Cherokee language heightened the book’s authenticity. And there is also a 3 page Glossary of Cherokee and other Native American language vocabulary at the end of the book. 

One flaw with the book was that some of the author’s descriptions of a character’s inner workings and the events which took place were redundant.  Another was that background information about Carrier and some of the other characters was lacking. For example, there was no explanation for why his father was not in his life. A few sentences about why this was the case, how it affected him, how his mother and uncle tried to compensate for this during his youth would have added some welcome depth to the story.

At less than 200 pages it was a relatively quick, albeit still informative and engaging read.