The Talking Totem Pole Stories I
Rafaela B. Perales was born in Long Beach, CA; raised in Wilmington, CA a graduate of Phineas Banning High School. Moving to Coeur d’Alene, ID with her young son, she spent five years there.  She then went on to raise her son, Michael, in Prescott, AZ where she has been for the past twenty-six years.  A cat was placed in her crib when she came home from the hospital at birth and she has enjoyed a special closeness to animals, of all kinds, ever since. It matters not if an animal walks on four legs, flies, swims, or crawls, she loves them all. The grandmother of three knows the joy of growing old, but not fully growing up.  Raising her son with truth, she believes that it is always important not to answer a child’s questions with “because.”  That, she knows, is not an answer. She doesn’t pretend to know all the answers, but that is because she does not know all the questions.  No subject should be taboo to a child as long as it is discussed “con cariño.”  This is done with love, caring, compassion, and understanding.  A voracious reader since she was a child, she began writing poetry at ten years of age. Receiving several awards for her poetry, she has also contributed her work to Sky Woman: Indigenous Women Who Have Shaped, Moved, or Inspired Us. Theytus Books (September 27, 2005)