num_pages: 192
description: The hour has come to speak of troubled times. It is time we spoke of Skullyville. Thus begins Rose Goode's story of her growing up in Indian Territory in pre-statehood Oklahoma. Skullyville a once-thriving Choctaw community was destroyed by land-grabbers culminating in the arson on New Year's Eve 1896 of New Hope Academy for Girls. Twenty Choctaw girls died but Rose escaped. She is blessed by the presence of her grandmother Pokoni and her grandfather Amafo both respected elders who understand the old ways. Soon after the fire the white sheriff beats Amafo in front of the town's people humiliating him. Instead of asking the Choctaw community to avenge the beating her grandfather decides to follow the path of forgiveness. And so unwinds this tale of mystery Indian-style magical realism and deep wisdom. It's a world where backwoods spiritualism and Bible-thumping Christianity mix with bad guys; a one-legged woman shop-keeper her oaf of a husband herbal potions and shape-shifting panthers rendering justice. Tim Tinglea scholar of his nation's language culture and spiritualitytells Rose's story of good and evil with understanding and even laugh-out-loud Choctaw humor.
language: English
title: House of Purple Cedar
publisher: Cinco Puntos Press