Captive Indian boy.
By: Illustrated by Don Lambo.
Publisher: D. McKay Co.
Published: 1963
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 154
First sentence: Chukai opened his eyes and looked about.  A slanting streak of sunlight was coming through the window.  He came to his feet.  Why had he overslept, this morning of all mornings?
Description: Set in the cliff dwelling culure of the 1200's (ancestral Pueblans) in the Four Corners region (Mesa Verde?).  Chukai of the Beaver Clan is a boy who is approaching young manhood.  Shortly after his initiation into the rites of the Kiva, he is captured while defending his village from a raiding party of the "Plains Indians".  The story traces his adventures among his captors, and his quest to escape and return home.  In the process he learns many things about other cultures and the nature of good and evil.  I am not enough of an anthropologist to say just how accurate the author's picture of the ancient Pueblans way of life is (it fits to the limits of my knowledge), but it is an enchanting children's tale.  If you stumble across a copy, it is worthwhile reading for any youngster with a sense of adventure, an interest in the old west (pre-European) and other cultures.
Table of contents: label: 1
pagenum: 1
title: A Day in the Cliff Village; label: 2
pagenum: 13
title: The Track by the Spring; label: 3
pagenum: 27
title: Initiated into the Rites of the Kiva; label: 4
pagenum: 37
title: The Great Hunt; label: 5
pagenum: 46
title: The Painted Faces; label: 6
pagenum: 54
title: The Attack; label: 7
pagenum: 66
title: Chukai--Captive; label: 8
pagenum: 77
title: The Buffalo Kill; label: 9
pagenum: 90
title: The Raid on the Flatheads; label: 10
pagenum: 102
title: Booz's Life Is Threatened; label: 11
pagenum: 113
title: Chukai and Booz Escape; label: 12
pagenum: 125
title: Back to the Cliff Village; label: 13
pagenum: 135
title: Accused of Being a Spy; label: 14
pagenum: 148
title: Home at Last