A classic of Native American literature, Black Eagle Child uses a rich mix of verse, prose narrative, and letters to tell Edgar Bearchild's journey to adulthood. Although the backdrop of much of Young Bear's novel may be familiar -- the conflicts over race, drugs, Vietnam and others that gripped America in the fifties, sixties, and seventies -- Bearchild recounts his coming-of-age story from a distinct vantage point, as a member of the Mesquakie nation. From his childhood delight in Jell-O to his induction into the faith of his elders, Bearchild's journey is a uniquely American one.

Ray A. Young Bear's work has been called "magnificent" by The New York Times and "a national treasure" by Bloomsbury Review. Dazzlingly original, but with deep roots in his traditional Mesquakie culture, Young Bear is a master wordsmith poised with trickster-like aplomb between the ancient world of his forefathers and the ever-encroaching "blurred face of modernity."
Remnants of the First Earth continues the story of Edgar Bearchild -- Young Bear's fictionalized alter ego -- which began with Black Eagle Child, a New York Times Notable Book for 1992. Young Bear revisits the Black Eagle...