Danny Blackgoat, Navajo Prisoner by Tim Tingle
Tingle, T. (2013). Danny Blackgoat, Navajo prisoner. 7th Generation. ISBN 9781939053039
Danny Blackgoat's world is upturned when soldiers break into his road, kill his animals and force him and his family to walk The Long Walk of 1864. Unwilling to give up so easily, Danny plans his escape, but to only be captured once more. Labelled a troublemaker, Danny is sent away to Fort Davis where Danny is determined to to break free of prison and be free to live his life as a Navajo teen.
Danny Blackgoat was a quick, yet informative read. To readers unaware of The Long Walk of 1864, it was a good introduction to the brutalities that the Navajo people faced at the hands of the United States government in 1864. As a reader who did not know very much about the The Long Walk of 1864, I felt as if the novel did not give very much background knowledge about the why what was happening, was happening. The author did have an author's note at the end that explained about the Long Walk, but I feel that may work better as a pre-face or a note at the beginning to give readers who have little to no context of the situation, context about the situation. The book is very action packed, with Danny and his family getting taken happening in the very first chapter, and the pace (for the most part) stays fast paced throughout the book making it easy for readers to follow along. At times, the writing did seem two dimensional, though that could contributed to Danny being young, and him not understanding very much English.
Throughout the book there were many references to the Navajo culture, such as multiple instances of Danny praying (for various reasons) and the strong family values that they hold. I enjoyed learning about the rituals the Navajo culture holds and one instance where the this was illustrated multiple times was when death was mentioned, where, when Danny was going to have to be onto of a body to escape, Danny voiced his fear and was comforted once he explained that when he was home a cleanse would be performed to rid his body of the death. The book did lean into the stereotype of "all white men are evil," while also making the prison guards lean into the stereotype of "all Navajos are dumb" (which may have also lent a hand to the earlier aforementioned stereotype). While some stereotypes may be true for a small group, chances are they do not apply to the whole population. Despite the negative views each had of each other, Danny perseverance never failed, and he was ultimately able to attain his dream of becoming free.
What do readers think of this title? Kirkus Reviews states that "despite plenty of explicit brutality and prejudice [it is] a positive tribute to the fortitude of Danny and Navajo community." If you enjoyed this title, make sure to continue this trilogy by reading the second and third title in this series, titled Danny Blackgoat, Rugged Road to Freedom and Danny Blackgoat, Dangerous Passage. If this title sparked curiosity about the Long Walk of 1864 the Museum of the American Indian has a lot of interesting information that can be found here. Research how Danny's story compare to real life accounts.
Awards and Honors for the title:
- Honor Book for the American Indian Youth Award in 2014
Books for all ages. Tim Tingle. (n.d.). http://www.timtingle.com/books-for-all-ages.html
Danny Blackgoat, Navajo prisoner. Kirkus Reviews. (2013, June 1). https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tim-tingle/danny-blackgoat-navajo-prisoner/
The Long Walk: The navajo treaties. Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. (n.d.). https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/navajo/long-walk/long-walk.cshtml
Comments
Post a Comment