When the Legends Die

This novel was assigned in my English class during my freshman year of high school. I couldn't read it. I kept thinking the bear was going to die. The tension kept making me put the book down. The bear survives, I now know. But the Dad dies. And the Mom dies. And Red dies. And Meo dies. And many horses die. Other things die. It's just not what I'd call an uplifting read, especially because it's written in a simplistic, pounding sort of rhythm that seems to be the inevitable choice of white authors writing about Native Americans in the sixties. Even so I feel a sense of accomplishment to have finally read to the end after 40 years of avoiding it.

For those with children or teens interested in Native American culture I'd recommend the stories of Joseph Bruchac as a good place to start. For those interested in the Indian Residential Schools, a good place to start might be with the book "Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences 1879-2000," by Margaret Archuleta, or "Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School," by Jack Agnes. ( )

An interesting novel about a young boy who is raised in a traditional Ute family and knows the Ute traditions, but is then forced to live at a school for Native Americans that teaches the ways of the "white world." As the main character matures, he struggles with his inner of conflicts of the traditional ways of life and the new ways learned in the school. An interesting book to teach about empathy. ( )

This book is told simply, but has an angry, tragic tone. However, the story gets off to an exciting start when Thomas Black Bull's father murders a fellow Ute Indian who stole from him. I never felt like I wanted to put the book down, especially as Tom moved from Horse Mountain, where he lived like his Native American ancestors, to Pagosa, Colorado as a student in the reservation school, and later when he became a rodeo rider. When the Legends Die is about Tom's restless search for his own identity. Many Native Americans probably felt the same way as Tom did as whites tried to rob them of their Indian identities and "civilize" them on the reservations. An excellent book. ( )

best book ever ( )

Tom Black Bull was a Indian reservation child, now a man, with a past that leaves him full of hurt and anger. He battles against his past, the stigma of his ancestry as a Native American Indian, and carries his rage within him, only taking it out on the horses he rides as a bronco rider.

This book starts with the quote "When the legends die, the dreams end, When the dreams end, there is no more greatness" and by the end of the book it becomes apparent how true this is.

Tom is forced away from the life his parents wanted for him, and expected to conform into a way of life that he didn't suit, and that didn't want him. The pain and the anger he feels isn't told to us through descriptions of his emotions, but shown through his actions and his responses to the people around him. And despite his obvious failings as a man, you cannot help but want him to find what he needs.

It's a stark, down to earth book that pulls no punches, showing the harsh realities of life as they are. The evocative, searing tastes and smells of the rodeo circuit, the landscape of New Mexico and the bitter chances Tom has are all vivid and draw the reader in. Not only this, but the descriptions of nature and the ways of the seasons are real and stunning.

Despite the fact this book is partially about the fight of man and horse against each other, instead of working together as I strive to do, I have loved this for years and will continue to do so. Instead of a dreamy look encompassing feelings and thoughts, this is a blood, sweat and tears book that makes you feel every blow life deals. ( )