The Last of the Ofos by Geary Hobson (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 3 2 9 The Last of the Ofos. By Geary Hobson. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2000. 120 pages, $29.95/$12.95. Reviewed by D an iel Ju stice University of Nebraska-Lincoln The image of the “vanishing Indian” in American popular and political culture is a powerful one. It is an image beloved by many non-Indians, who cel­ ebrate either the romance and tragedy of the noble redman (always a male) gallantly meeting his inevitable doom in the face of Euroamerican “civiliza­ tion” or the removal of the indigenes and subsequent lawless occupation of their lands by the invaders and their descendants. And yet it is also an image vigorously resisted by most Indians, who quite clearly recognize in all its man­ ifestations the ultimate designs of Euroamerica: to eliminate the Native pres­ ence—spiritual, physical, and symbolic—and replace it with the unchallenged presence of those who caused the so-called vanishing through treachery, greed, and blind ambition. In his short novel, The Last of the Ofos, Geary Hobson (Cherokee/QuapawChickasaw ) explores these issues and others in the piercing story of Thomas Darko, the last of the Mosopelea people (known as Ofos to Whites). Thomas is a man fully at home with his family in their tiny community, deep in the heart of the bayou country of Louisiana, until multiple tragedies befall the Darko family, and Thomas leaves his home to find work and adventure in bootlegging, prison, Hollywood films, military service in the Pacific during World War II, and, late in life, the Smithsonian Institution. On thisjourney, Thomas explores America and its people, all the while coming to an understanding of his place as the last living speaker and knowledge-bearer of all things Ofo. Hobson’s narrative takes both Thomas and the reader across the American landscape and its mythscape,. a journey through an America that is distinctly Indian, an America in which racism is ever present, but in which Indians are never powerless victims. The trip is frequently painful, often hilarious, and always truthful and unflinching. Thomas is no tragic Chingachgook, no war­ rior riding into the sunset; though tragedy does befall him and many he loves, he lives on, unafraid to express his fear, loneliness, anger, and sorrow over what has been lost, and equally unhesitant to celebrate the many joyful and humor­ ous experiences of his long life. Foremost in the narrative is the constant reminder that Hobson’s driving purpose throughout the novel is to demonstrate “a whole lot of hope for Indian people everywhere” (100). This commitment to Indian issues is evident from the first page, and it continues to instruct and draw the reader on throughout the tale. The Last of the Ofos is a lyrical journey through the Indian landscape of the twentieth century, a reminder to all—Indian and non-Indian alike—of the promises made and broken, lives lost and reclaimed, and of the strength and endurance of Native peoples in the face of continued oppression. In all 3 3 0 WAL 3 5 . 3 FALL 2 0 0 0 respects, The Last of the Ofos is a masterfully crafted tale, and Geary Hobson demonstrates why he is one of Native America’s most powerful storytellers. Birthing a N atio n : Qender, Creativity, and the West in American Literature. By Susan J. Rosowski. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. 242 pages, $50.00. Reviewed by Robert Thacker St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York For two reasons beyond Birthing a Nation’s subject, this excellent book ought to be of special interest to readers of Western American Literature. It began as Susan Rosowski’s presidential address to an annual Western Literature Association (WLA) meeting; while preparing her remarks, she wondered why she “felt so at home in a field that was prototypically male” (ix). Second, and in an understated way, Rosowski notes in passing that Jean Stafford, one of the four figures she considers here, “a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who came from and wrote of the West,” “is ignored in major antholo­ gies and bibliographies of western writing,” even those written or compiled by well-known members of the WLA (156). Upending such...