Nickajack

Nickajack is a short book ,but in terms of the themes it addresses it is one of the "biggest "books to come my way in a very long time.A western ,set for the most part in Oklahoma ,in the new Cherokee National lands its central character is the eponymous Nickajack ,who is on trial for murder .The charge is political,the result of deep divisions within the new nation settled on its new terrotory.The state is riven by factionalism ,the contending parties being those forced into exile ,along the bitter "Trail of Tears"by fraudulent,cynical treaties ,and anothrer party that has embraced the exile from their homeland,if not willingly then in a tradition of "realpolitik".It is a conflict that has seen murder done .Nickajack-an apolitical man with a deep sense of family-is unjustly accused of murder ,and much of the novel unfolds in the form of his reflections as he listens to the evidence unfold in the courtroomThe book is the tale of a dualistic tragedy -for the man himself,and for his tribe .In plain but heartrending prose the author lays bare the corruption of the system of government that gave rise to the genocide of the USA's traetment of its minority groups ,and the human tragedy that lies at the heart of all such actions.The ending is heartbreaking ,but you will not forget a major novel by a major -if ridiculously neglected -writer.Read it--please !