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 1920s 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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