A Creek survives the Civil War
THE CONFEDERATE WAR BONNET
By Jack Shakely
264 pp. iUniverse, Inc. $17.95
Reviewed by Dorothy Webb
History is written by the victors, it is said. Readers curious about the history of the losing side will enjoy Jack Shakely’s The Confederate War Bonnet. Inspired by “a pristine doeskin headdress with intricate and extensive beadwork . . . with a repeated pattern of a Confederate flag," this account of the Confederate side of the Civil War in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) is told by half-Creek, half-white Jack Gaston.
In 1863, Gaston is looking forward to continuing his studies at Harvard, where he is the first Indian student in two centuries to attend. His world shifts when an unexpected letter from the Creek Nation tells him that he has been elected to the House of Warriors. Gaston is unsure of his tribal duties, having spent most of his growing-up years in St. Louis with his Anglo mother. His father, a Creek Nation chief, had left his family in St. Louis until the Indian Territory became more settled. They eventually joined him.
Gaston knew being a member of the House of Warriors also meant he would be commissioned in the Confederate Army. Even though Gaston found slavery “appalling," he returned to his reservation to join the Confederates. He felt a duty to care for his mother and sister after his father’s death, likely at the hands of Union soldiers, and to assist in preventing the war from tearing the Indian Territory apart.
Through Gaston, the reader learns about the Creek Nation, one of the Five Civilized Tribes that once dominated what is now the southeastern United States. Forced into a portion of southeastern Indian Territory by European encroachment, the Creek Nation struggles to adapt to the white man’s ways and deal with the atrocities of the Civil War while trying to keep their economic well-being, tribal heritage, and religion from being destroyed. Gaston witnesses the fighting of brothers of all races and strengthens his own leadership skills to make decisions in battle for his own Creek Nation, their population and for the protection of the land decimated by the ravages of the war.
Shakely draws from The Road to Disappearance, Angie Debo’s publication on the Creek Indians, to fill this story with not only the culture of the Creeks and their involvement in the Civil war, but also the subtleties of life during that time. The rich details give the feeling of accompanying Gaston. For example, Shakely describes Gaston’s friend, Jim Tom, in this way:
... straight black hair that hung almost to his shoulders in a Dutch-boy cut. He had two feathers tied to his hair with a strand of raw-hide. The listeners, perhaps surprised and a little frightened by his size, had already pulled back a bit as Jim Tom reached his full height. He put his banjo into a soft leather scabbard inscribed with beadwork and leather fringe.
The music and the language (both English and Creek) of the time is described, the difficulties in transportation experienced, the styles of dress seen and leaders, both Army and Indian are encountered. Shakely describes the planning and carrying out of the Creek’s Green Corn Ceremony, a time of thanksgiving for the crops and when past grievances are forgiven. Shakely is descended from a newspaper family in Oklahoma, so we learn how a print shop of the times operated.
However, Shakely’s passion for historical detail is sometimes excessive. For example, I found the five chapters Shakely spent on Gaston’s journey from Massachusetts to Indian territory arduous. Shakely often slips out of Gaston’s point of view to give extraneous information, like the progression of minstrel shows into the twentieth century and the state of the railroad system in the northeast at the end of the Civil War—two years in the future. This departure from Gaston’s story disrupts the closeness I developed for Gaston. Also, the majority of what is learned is from Gaston’s observation. I found myself wanting to know more of Gaston’s thoughts, less of his observations, which further distanced me from the character.
The Confederate War Bonnet is both factual and entertaining. Gaston’s role in the struggle for survival of the Creek nation drives the story. Aficionados of Oklahoma, Civil War, or Native American history will enjoy Shakely’s novel.
Dorothy Webb has published several short stories and magazine articles and has a work of fiction nearly completed. She is an archaeologist of Laguna Pueblo, Winnebago and Chippewa-Ottawa tribal affiliation. A lover of history, nature and books, she is the grandmother of four smarter-than-average grandchildren.
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