Gaming

Pushing the Bear Book Review by Diane Glancy

Pushing the Bear by Diane Glancy was about the plight of the Cherokee Indians on the Trail of Tears. Using both fictional characters and actual historical figures intertwined with actual primary sources, Glancy wove a compelling story that tells the human experience of the Trail of Tears. Through the eyes of the fictional characters, Maritole and Knowbowtie, the reader could feel the despair, uncertainty and shock that the Cherokee endured. The trauma of being forcibly uprooted stripped the Cherokee of their identity and dignity. This truth is revealed as Maritole and Knowbowtie struggle to survive. Furthermore, the soldiers who accompanied the Cherokee along the way were antagonistic and friendly. Glancy uses the fictional character, Williams to demonstrate this.

The story began when soldiers came to Maritole’s farm in North Carolina to take her and her family to the stockade. This scene was especially traumatic because Maritole identified herself through her land, cabin, and personal possessions, all of which were inherited from her grandmother. Maritole believed that her grandmother’s spirit still roamed the facility. Therefore, the move to Maritole meant losing her grandmother, her heritage and family values, as well as her identity.

After being taken off her farm, Maritole was allowed to return to her cabin to get some things her family would need along the way. Her husband, Knowbowtie, told her to take her musket, her coat, and a few other things as well. When Maritole arrived at her cabin, she found a white family living there, using their possessions as their own. Maritole’s anger overshadowed his judgment and prevented him from obtaining everything he had come for. If it weren’t for a soldier, he wouldn’t even have gotten the pot and blankets back. Even if she hadn’t lost her temper, it would be doubtful if Maritole would have recovered any of her possessions without the soldiers present. The white family who lived there would have felt that everything in the cabin belonged to them. Although Maritole did not intentionally forget his things, Knowbowtie felt betrayed. After this event, Knowbowtie abandoned Maritole and began walking with her mother and sister. To heighten Knowbowtie’s sense of betrayal, the soldier named Williams, who chose Maritole to return to his cabin, took a romantic interest in her. It would have been obvious to anyone because Williams would have had a glint in his eye when he looked at Maritole. If Knowbowtie had noticed, surely he would have felt doubly betrayed when jealousy began to infest him. Knowbowtie didn’t want Maritole anymore, but she didn’t want anyone else to have her either. He couldn’t completely let go of either Maritole or the past. (13-16)

When Knowbowtie distanced herself from Maritole, Williams took the opportunity to woo her. Maritole either played innocent or took advantage of the situation, seeing nothing wrong with talking to Williams. In the course of human events, people are attracted to each other due to circumstances. For example, Williams was alone. His wife and children had left him years ago. Also, Williams was drawn to Maritole because she displayed the qualities that her daughter also had, or so she said. These qualities made Williams comfortable with Maritole creating a sense of familiarity. Consequently, Williams felt compelled to help Maritole. He gave her additional food and clothing. More importantly, Williams gave Maritole the attention that she craved and that her husband had denied her. In return, Maritole kept Williams company. As the relationship between Maritole and Williams developed, her relationship with Knowbowtie deteriorated. Knowbowtie became jealous, prompting him to attack Williams. Later, Williams was relieved of service by the army. (171) Although Williams was friends with Maritole and helped her, he was also an antagonist.

By marrying Maritole, Knowbowtie could farm her land, but it would never truly be hers because Cherokee society was matrilineal. Knowbowtie only brought her musket into the marriage and if the marriage ended, she would leave with her musket alone. The musket represented Knowbowtie’s manhood without him, he could not support his family. As his musket was not allowed in the way, Knowbowtie was stripped of his manhood and dignity. In essence, he was embarrassed. Due to his embarrassment, Knowbowtie was uncomfortable with his wife and in-laws. Consequently, he distanced himself from them. (222) To complicate matters, Knowbowtie was proud to farm Maritole’s land. As long as Knowbowtie was married to Maritole, the land was his, too. Knowbowtie said this to Tanner, her brother-in-law after Tanner goaded on Knowbowtie: “You have my grandmother’s cabin. My wife had no fields,” Knowbowtie replied proudly and said, “Well mine did and I plowed them. “(61) When the land was lost, Knowbowtie no longer had this connection to his wife or so it seemed to his in-laws.

As a wife, Maritole was expected to cook. Along the way, they gave him white flour and salted pork to prepare family meals. The Cherokee traditionally ate corn. Quaty Lewis, another fictional Cherokee woman on the trail said, “No, this white bread is nothing my grandmother would have touched.” (72) Maritole did not know how to cook with flour and did not have anything to improve its flavor. However, Knowbowtie blamed Maritole for the bad tasting food. Knowbowtie commented, “Maritole still had no patience with her cooking. She would do something just to do it.” He compared Maritole’s kitchen to his previous wife’s. Knowbowtie didn’t understand why she wasn’t cooking. (151)

Maritole and Knowbowtie struggled with religion and faith throughout history. They struggled to maintain their old ways and accept the new ones. They saw the trail as a lesson from the Great Spirit or a warning to be right with God. (149) Knowbowtie said: “Maybe that was the lesson of the Great Spirit. Nothing was mine. I could receive and lose in the same breath. The burden that the white man carried was that he did not yet know the lesson.” (207) Maritole, too, reflected on how to be right with God, “The white man said that the Cherokee were left out of God’s world. That the Cherokee had to accept Christ to be right with God.” Both Maritole and Knowbowtie throughout history make reference to spirituality, magicians, and Christianity. For example, “Maritole heard the trees cry for us … The Bear camped in front of me as usual. I tried to push him away but he didn’t move.” (161) In the end, both Maritole and Knowbowtie hugged the natives. American spirituality and Christianity.

When Maritole and Knowbowtie arrived in their new land, they were given the opportunity to start a new one. Maritole’s baby, mother and father had died on the way. She was alone except for her brother who had his own family. Knowbowtie claimed that Maritole’s father had spoken to him in a dream asking Knowbowtie to take care of his daughter, Maritole. Knowbowtie was also alone. The two build a house together and raise two children who had lost their parents along the way. (233) Despite all the trials and tribulations of the Trail of Tears, the two were able to rise from the ashes and start anew as the legend of the Cherokee Phoenix and the new Cherokee nation in Oklahoma.

This book was assigned as part of a college course on Native American Indians. However, it was worth reading and attracted my attention on every page.

Bibliography / Reference

Glancy, Diane. Pushing the bear. San Diego: Harvest Book Harcourt, INC. nineteen ninety six.

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