The Turtle Creek band of the fictional Nehawka Indians wages a battle for the return of their sacred Sky Bundle, a medicine pouch containing artifacts. It reposes under glass in an eastern museum at the beginning of Touching the Fire. Seven interlinked stories, beginning with a court battle in the year 2001 and going far back in time to the origin of the Bundle and the first Nehawka village on the Great Plains, reveal the richness and depth of Indian cultural heritage. Touching the Fire is multilayered—sad, humorous, and always informative.
Author Bio
Roger Welsch, the well-known folklorist and essayist for CBS’s Sunday Morning, is an adopted member of the Omaha Indian tribe.
Praise
"Welsch’s stories [have] great universality; they speak of all Native Americans, not just an individual tribe or a single holy artifact."—Publishers Weekly
