Enjoy these short stories about a Tlingit village in Southeast Alaska. The stories are illustrated with the author's water color paintings. In these stories, and images, you will pick up a little about the geography of the region as well as the history, culture and the values of the Tlingit peoples in the village of Yakutat, Alaska. One of the themes in these stories, Kadashan is able to tell how his people can live in two worlds, but still remain Tlingit. In the three part story "The World Forgetting by the World Forgot" seventeen year old Arnie Jones, after his father's passing, is forced to take over leadership of the family commercial fishing business. This was a time in his life when he was trying to find his identity---should he take the time discover his ancestral roots, or give up his identity in favor of a western education? In "Something to Give", set on a fishing camp on the Aalseix River, newlyweds know love, but don't know how to express it. High school graduates in "The Tale of Three Seal Hunters" are faced with the decision of whether they should join the military or stay home and relearn their hunting skills. In "Lifeblood" we learn how three siblings are faced with the responsibility of catching enough salmon to sell the last few days of the a bad commercial fishing season to pay for a heart bypass operation for their mother. It is in the fall and the weather is changing from bad to worse. The resiliency of these youngsters is due to the way they had been raised by their parents and grandparent, something that is missing in America today. The challenges the characters face in these stories are everyday situations one would find anywhere in the world: Young love, health concerns, financial security, human longings, grief and personal conflicts are subjects that the author tries to share with the world about a small Alaskan settlement. They also face the challenge of taking advantage, or not so, about the short, summer salmon runs--- If they succeed then they can have resources to sustain their lives; if they don't meet their goals the long winter months will be very lean. These stories, and art work, Kadashan describes how western influence and traditional beliefs and values are incorporated into their modern lives.
About the Author: Kadashan's Christian name is Bertrand J. Adams, Sr. He is of Tlingit decent from Yakutat, Alaska, a village in the northern panhandle of southeast Alaska. He was given his birth name, Kadashan, by his grandmother who named him after her father, John Kadashan, who was a leader from Wrangell, located on the southern end of the southeast panhandle. The elder Kadashan, as a young man and was one of the guides to world traveler and naturalist, John Muir. Kadashan means "red tide coming." Kadashan began writing when he was in college. He was encouraged to by his creative writing instructor, who recognized his passion for story-telling. Twenty years later his retired teacher visited him, read the stories he had stored in a drawer, and persuaded him to find a publisher. In time his rejection slips were thicker than his manuscripts. Eventually he was discovered by the publisher of the Alaska Native Magazine who began to feature his short stories and his water color paintings to illustrate his stories. Shortly after, he began writing essays for the Tundra Times, a statewide Alaska Native newspaper. His commentaries dealt with Indian politics and tribal governments. Eventually he was under contract with the Juneau Empire and wrote a monthly column for the Capital city's statewide newspaper. He tweaked these essays and self-published The Laws of Nature and Nature's God in digital form His latest, Kadashan Speaks--Legal Plunder clearly demonstrates the adverse signs of the times in America and how the federal system is using legal plunder to make illegal issues legal. When Raven Cries is Kadashan's first novel. It is out of print however Kadashan is working to have it reprinted. He is presently occupied with writing another novel and a non-fiction book about the history and culture of his Tlingit clan. Kadashan received his education from Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka and Brigham Young University in Provo Utah. He is a retired commercial fisherman, a salt water charter boat captain, and tribal government president. He lives in Yakutat with his wife near his children and grandchildren.