Cry of the Ancients by Grey Owl and Little Pigeon, illustrated by Daniel Nicholas; Herald Publishing House, copyright 1974

This is a book where you need to start at the end and then go back to the beginning.  Here is the ending (and don't worry, you'll definitely want to read the entire book after you read the ending): "Then - as our prophecy foretold - we will climb to the mountains and lift wide our arms, crying with one voice across the world, "Father! We are here!"  And He will answer, "Israel."  And so Grey Owl and Little Pigeon take us on a wonderful adventure of who and what Native Americans (indians) are and what that means to all people today.

First, it should be noted that Grey Owl was not his tribal name.  He kept that private, so that "no honor or benefit would come to him."  But he and his wife, Little Pigeon, layout a different rendering of the history of the Native American.  He takes a spiritual journey, not just legends, but the ones that seem to tie all Native Americans together.  Before they get to far into the legends, they look at what the early Europeans thought of the Indians, some accounts, such as James Adair's book, The History of American Indians.  They also acknowledge that they focused on the accounts (they preferred not to use the term legend) that seemed to prove their point.  Grey Owl looked into the traditions and stories that he personally heard over the years from the "Old People."  

What follows these opening explanations are the actual accounts without commentary, such as the legend of the pipe.  One of the more interesting is the name of the Oneida tribe, which literally meant, "the People of the Standing Stone".  During their long migration, they would settle in locations where they would find the stone.  Another point of interest is the comparison they make of certain Native American words with Hebrew so many that it is more than coincidental.  Grey Owl and Little Pigeon move from legends and names to inscriptions on artifacts and relics.  These too produce fascinating comparisons with ancient Israel and Hebrew, the Old Testament and the Middle East.  

But where does all this evidence lead us?  To the conclusion, from an American Indian perspective, that they are of the House of Israel.  Is that important to them or us?  Absolutely!  It means that God's plans for Israel and the promises he made to them will take place at some point in the future.  It's not just having this knowledge that is important, but what will occur among God's ancient covenant people.