Native American Book Review: The Wampanoag

 The Wampanoag: A True Book by Kevin Cunningham and Peter Benoit, Children's Press and imprint of Scholastic, New York, 2011.

This is a good introduction to the Wampanoag.  I have often wondered where the Wampanoag ended up and I find out they are still there, they are just not so many.  There were as many as 30,000 Wampanoag before they were introduced to Europeans and in 1616 an epidemic resulted in the death of 90 percent of the total.  When the pilgrims arrived the Wampanoag population had been depleted so they were willing to enter an alliance with the newcomers.  Massasoit was the head Sachem at the time and negotiated this peace.  Squanto helped with translation and with teaching the Pilgrims how to live in the new world, raising corn, squash and beans (the three sisters).  This resulted in the first harvest feast which later became Thanksgiving.

The good relations did not laugh.  After Massasoit died, his son became sachem.  However he died after having visited with the settlers.  His brother Metacomet/Prince Phillip then became angry thinking the settlers had killed his brother.  This started what is known as Prince Phillip's war.  Metacomet was eventually captured and killed and his head hung on a stake outside the city wall.  His brother's widow, Weetamoo also  became a sachem and waged war with her people until they were ambushed and she drowned in a river trying to get away.  Her body was found and her head too was displayed outside the city wall.  In the war 2000 Native Americans were killed from several different groups.  Over 600 settlers were killed.  Most every white settlement had been attacked.  There are now about 2000 Wampanoag in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  

Traditional housing was a wetu also known as a wigwam.  Over a frame of saplings layers of mats were placed which created a warm, dry home.  A fire was kept in the middle.  The sachem does not control the people but enters contracts with outside entities.  The Wampanoag language was almost lost but efforts are ow being made to bring it back.  There are now Wampanoag language classes available.  

Book Review: September 11 Then and Now

September 11 Then and Now, Peter Benoit, Scholastic, New York, 2012.

This book, although written for youth, is a very good a succinct history of 9/11.  He tells the story of what happened with each of the four plains.  It also talks about the planning that went into this event, which started with a garage bombing I 1993.  The terrorists were hoping one building would topple into the other, killing everyone.  Ramzi Yousef was sentenced to life in prison, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to helping plan the event and being part of al-Qaeda. 

Osama Bin Laden and Mohamed Atta spear headed the attack in 2001 in which hijackers took control of planes with box cutters and knives.  They then flew the planes into the two World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon Building.  The fourth plane crashed into a field. 

In the World Trade Center he rescue effort got many people below the explosions out, but those above the explosions were doomed, except for a handful who found a way to the roof.  Most of the roof access was locked, and the smoke too heavy for helicopters to land. 

This book also talks about the consequences, going to war against the Taliban, the after effects to health to the rescue workers and others, and of the country coming together.

Book Review: A True Book: Abraham Lincoln

A True Book: Abraham Lincoln, by Peter Benoit, Children’s Press, Scholastic Books, New York, 2012.

This book is geared to give little known facts about President Lincoln.  Yes, he is the only president to hold a patent.  He also did not win his first try for the state legislature in Illinois.  With only 18 months of school, Lincoln read as many books as he could.  Other facts include: There were seven Lincoln-Douglas debates, there were almost 4 million slaves in 1860, 46,000 were killed or wounded at Gettysburg.  12 million peple saw Lincoln’s funeral train.  360,000 soldiers died in the Civil War.  There are less than 300 words in the Gettysburg Address. 

Lincoln first saw slavery up close when he and some friends piloted a boat down the Mississippi in 1830.  He walked back to Illinois from Louisiana.  Lincoln was a hard worker and a good story teller and was well liked.  Lincoln served in the militia in the Black Hawk War, but never saw action.  In 1842 he married Mary Todd.  He also met Stephen Douglas at this time who would become a political opponent.  Lincoln battled depression, which was made worse by the loss of his sons.  Only one would live to adulthood.  After becoming president, one of his biggest moves was the emancipation proclamation effective January 1, 1863.  This allowed the Union to recruit 180,000 African Americans to the military.  Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address, which he wrote himself, at the dedication of the military graveyard in Gettysburg.  Lincoln at first thought the speech a failure.  However in a few words he outlined the struggle and the commitment.  Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater the evening of April 14.  He would die the next morning.