The new novel Tail Feather: Adventures of a Mohawk Paddler on the River-That-Flows-Two-Ways (2020) by Ray E. Phillips delivers the audience to turbulent times archaeologists call the “contact period,” the time of first encounters between indigenous people of the Americas and European explorers, traders, and settlers.
The story embraces a sweeping panorama off the Hudson River from Lake-Tear-of-the-Clouds in the Adirondacks the Manhattan Island.
The story of unfolds through the experiences of a Mohawk youth on a trading mission. Traveling downriver by canoe, the flint and shell traders encounter the ship of Adriaen Block in the Tappan Zee. It’s a chance meeting that sets the time as the spring of 1613.
Many of the natural sights along the Hudson River that are described in the story can still be seen relatively unchanged today. Notes explaining various cultural and geographical aspects of the plot complement the story.
Ray E. Phillips, MD. is the author of several books on cardiovascular medicine and the clinical exam, published by McGraw Hill, W.B.Saunders and Springer Nature. He has contributed to the New York Almanack, including “Colonial Medicine: Treating George Washington.” An essay, “The Devil’s Bite” (the story of scurvy) is in the current issue of Sea History Magazine.
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Great book, prescient and thorough. The author throws the door open on Upstate New York landscape in the 17th century, detailing natural sights that are still there today.
Tail Feather was a great read. Presents a cinematic tour of the Hudson and a moving coming-of-age story. A fun adventure, while illuminating of the time period, landscape, and culture. Highly recommended!
A young Mohawk’s journey of self-discovery is truly an eye-opener, as he encounters unfamiliar practices and customs of other tribes living along the river, as well as the ship of Adriaen Block. Reading the story was gratifying for me, as it highlighted many of the Hudson River sites that I know so well. The “List of Notes” separating the two parts of the book shows at a glance the monumental research undertaken by the author.
“Tail Feather” combines a heart-warming story of adolescence with vast “flora and fauna” and cultural content. People of all ages should enjoy this book.