Peacemaker by Joseph Bruchac (review)

Bruchac, Joseph Peacemaker. Dial, 2020 [160p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781984815378 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781984815385 $9.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12

Noted author Bruchac looks to history with contemporary relevance in his retelling of the founding of the Haudenosaunee, known in English as the Iroquois Confederacy. The story focalizes through Okwaho, a boy whose family joins a few others in leaving the main Onontaka village because of the warlike practices of its leader, Atatarho. When a raiding party from another people takes Okwaho's friend, Tawis, the group seeks help from Atatarho and receives only a punitive response. Into this discord comes Carries, a messenger with a story of a Peacemaker who has come to bring harmony among the tribes who comprise the People of the Longhouse. Okwaho's village and eventually Okwaho himself decide to put old enmities aside, follow the way of the Peacemaker, and return to Atatarho to convince him to lead the Onontaka in peace. This is simultaneously history, politics, and legend, and Bruchac scaffolds the account with multiple other stories told by the characters. The result is slower pacing, aside from the initial action, and a patient, winding journey to a commitment to cultural change; however, that's true to the way both big storytelling and big change works. The book keeps firmly to the reality of its time and place—Tawis stays with his new family, for instance—and Okwaho acknowledges that peace won't bring back the dead but that it's still desirable. That's a message with a lot of contemporary import that readers won't miss, and they'll find much to consider in the story of a historically significant peaceful accord and the difficulty of reaching it. An author's note explains the importance of the Peacemaker story to the Haudenosaunee and to the author, and a brief reading list is included.