Chumash warrior Black Wolf is hunted by the commander of a Spanish Garrison in Alta, California. Black Wolf’s people have been forcibly converted to Christianity and enslaved.
March 30, 1998
Oregon novelist Munn (Seminole Song; Daughter of the Mountain) offers another Native American historical romance, this time focusing on the plight of Southern California's Chumash and their treatment by the Spaniards in the early 1800s. As usual, Munn ably describes the waning culture of the Indians--their unique outlook on life, their rich traditions and their own brand of spirituality. But these attractions are undermined by a thumping didacticism, especially evident in the mustache-twirling portrayal of the Spaniards. Corporal Sebastian Rodriguez is, of course, a heartless military man. But Munn doesn't stop there, making Rodriguez not just a tyrant over the Indians but also an abusive husband and father. Father Patricio--a "potbellied man with oversize hands... crooked teeth, one of them black"--is a sadistic conniver who oversees the conversion and enslavement of members of the Chumash tribe. Munn also implies that the padre may be a pedophile. Against this collection of rapine Spaniards Munn pits the proverbial noble savage, Black Wolf, a Chumash warrior trying to save his people and their heritage from invading foreigners. He meets his match in Lucita, Rodriguez's wayward daughter, who becomes intrigued by Native American customs and mysticism. That she so readily rejects her background as well as the hand of a loving, intelligent merchant stretches our credibility, but it makes for a tidy ending to a tale with an equally tidy and untroubled moral stance.