The Last Snake Runner

Book Review:

In southern New Mexico, 14-year-old Kendall who is half Anglo and half Acoma Indian has just been initiated into the Snake Clan of his mother's people. He begins to have nightmares of impending evil, which he doesn't understand. His beloved great-grandfather had taught him the Keresan language and some tribal ways but died before he could pass on the knowledge of the Snake Clan ceremonies and the dangerous sacred snake dance.

Kendall is still struggling with the loss of his mother, when his Anglo father remarries a woman, who is proud of her Spanish heritage, and will never understand him. He runs to the desert and a small mesa (K'atzim'o), which is a replica of "The Enchanted Mesa," and has always had an unusual pull on him. When he comes out of the tunnels of the mesa, he finds himself in the 16th century and face to face with one of his Acoma ancestors, a man of the Snake Clan. He slowly realizes that he has the miraculous opportunity to learn about the clan's rituals and ceremonies as the last of the snake runners in his own time.

Kendall finds a place among his ancestors but as time passes, he feels more apprehensive about the approaching dangers of the Spanish conquistadors and the unfolding of events in the history of his people. He is forced to participate in and witness gruesome battles, and the brutal aftermath and atrocities that the Acoma Indians suffered at the hands of the Spanish Conquistadors. There comes a time when Kendall has delivered his message of hope and the future to come, and must run toward his own time, and his home and family in the present.

This blend of historical fiction, time travel fantasy and action adventure is guaranteed to captivate many young readers. The ending is a little weak because it is difficult to believe that Kendall could have such a complete turnaround. After his experiences with the Spanish Conquistadors in 1558, he is willing to accept his new stepmother. The wonderful details of everyday life and of the Acoma ceremonies and traditions speak to the accuracy and thoroughness of this author's research.

In her author's note, Kimberley Griffiths Little explains that the historical events at Acoma Pueblo and in the settlement are based on an eyewitness account of one of the Spanish soldiers. The author provides many interesting facts of interest in this short afterward, such as today the snake dance is performed only at the Hopi reservation in eastern Arizona and that the real last member of the Snake Clan died in the 1920’s at Acoma.

Curriculum Connections

History and Native American Cultural Studies - Tribes of New Mexico and the invasion of Spanish Conquistadors: A group of readers could research the extinction of the Snake Clan and other losses that Native Americans have suffered.

The book could part of a group of texts that explores what happens when there is a clash between two very different cultures that have no real way to communicate or understand each other.

Current news articles could explore present-day feelings between the native tribes of New Mexico and Spanish descendents. (E.g. Memorials have been erected of Don Juan de Oñate as a great explorer).

Acoma Pueblo or "The Sky City" is still at the center of the Acoma community. Many images of the pueblo with its two- and three-story attached houses and the nearby landscape, including "The Enchanted Mesa," can be easily accessed at www.Google.com by clicking on and searching "Images."

Another possible avenue would be to explore genealogy and connections readers might feel to their ancestors. Yet another may be the identification and exploration of the topic of multicultural families and communities.

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