Citizens Creek

October 15, 2014
In her third novel, Tademy (Red River, 2007, etc.) draws a tale of courage and family loyalty from a dark corner of American history.The young slave Tom is yatika-interpreter-for Alabama Creek chief Yargee, but he's called Cow Tom for his gift of understanding, hilis haya, of cattle. As the Remove begins-Southern tribes being exiled to Indian Territory-Yargee rents Cow Tom to Gen. Thomas Jesup as a "linguister" to fight the Second Seminole War. War over, Cow Tom, his wife, Amy, and daughters Malinda and Maggie are caught up in a desperate river journey to Fort Gibson in eastern Oklahoma. Cow Tom's hard bargaining earns the family's freedom, but it's a long, hard struggle with prejudice before those with African-American blood are allowed into tribal roles. Tademy's research lends veracity to the tale, which later shifts to the perspective of Rose, Cow Tom's granddaughter. Prospering until the Civil War, the family is driven from their land by Confederate Lower Creeks. There's only spare protection at Fort Gibson-"Surrounded by sickness and starvation and suffering." Recognizing "[t]he world was a harsh place, guaranteed of quicksilver change and backhand slaps," Cow Tom builds a new homestead and prospers, taking a role as chief among African Creeks. Rose marries a half-Indian cowboy and begins to ranch, struggling against her husband's fickle regard for his vows and raising two of his children with other women as her own. Rose and Cow Tom drive the intense narrative, with Tademy's knowledge of Creek life, from turban headgear to corn sofki to fermented cha-cha, offering authenticity. Tademy's tale remains intense throughout, from the genocidal war in Florida-Tom, "not yet thirty, his life an endless trail of death patrols"-to the desperate struggle to hold onto property against prejudice-"We are Negro, and we are Creek, not one or the other but both." Tamedy explores a forgotten trail of American history to find an intriguing tale of love, family and perseverance in the struggles of proud African Creeks.

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June 15, 2014
Tademy returns with a book in the spirit of her "New York Times" best-selling "Cane River", featuring a man born into slavery in 1810 Alabama who uses a gift for languages to buy his way to freedom. Sold to a Creek Indian chief before he turns ten, Cow Tom becomes a translator for his Creek master and is even hired out to U.S. military generals, earning the money he needs to break his chains. His granddaughter Rose takes up the battle against social oppression.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2014
Tademy's (Red River, 2007) third riveting historical novel follows four generations of an African American family, starting in 1810 when the patriarch, Cow Tom, is born a slave in Alabama. Gifted not only in his handling of cattle but also in his way with language, Cow Tom is sold at a young age to a Creek Indian chief who uses Cow Tom's skills to communicate with the U.S. military during the U.S.-Indian wars. Cow Tom, his wife, Amy, and their two young daughters, Rose and Elizabeth, are removed along with the rest of the Creeks to Indian Territory in what later becomes Oklahoma. After the Civil War, Cow Tom is named chief of the Creek freedmen, though the family still lives in dire conditions11 people crammed into a 10-by-12-foot space, always facing disease. Their circumstances gradually improve until they own their own cattle ranch, though they are constantly threatened by white expansion westward. Each of the novel's characters speaks in a compelling voice, especially Amy, the steadfast matriarch, and her granddaughter, Rose, to whom Tademy devotes the final third of her completely engrossing and historically accurate family saga, which in many ways mirrors her own family history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)