The Chief and I

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Reviews

As reviewed in Style Weekly
“Through journal entries that span the beginning of 2002 through the end of 2006, Tootelian chronicles her transformative experience caring for the aging chief of the Mattaponi tribe, Webster Little Eagle Custalow. Born the day the Titanic sank, Custalow, a deeply spiritual leader, was as comfortable on a horse as he was on a motorcycle. Tootelian’s entries—raw, graceful and often poetic—don’t end with Custalow’s death, but continue with her fight to preserve the Mattaponi River, which she came to love as much as she loved the chief himself.” — Valley Haggard

Radio Interview by Liz Humes' Wordy Birds at WRIR FM 97.3
“He came out with his cane. He was polite to me. He sat down, and we started talking. Then he smiled, and that sealed it, that smile.”

To listen, go to http://wordybirds.org/archives/ and click on Karen Tootelian.

Review by Worth Haile
Once in awhile, a book changes a life.

I cannot help but think about [author] Awiakta when I sit down to review Virginia Author Karen Tootelian, who in my mind carries the same soft resolution to speak firmly and kindly about issues like wildness and rivers and death—and what it means to make a choice to begin each day with hope.
Having long kept a journal about her life on the Mattaponi River, Tootelian began in 2002 to write about her time with 89-year-old Webster Little Eagle Custalow, the late Chief of the Mattaponi Indian Tribe, who passed away in 2003. Her poignant entries chronicle days, decisions and moments of tranquility alongside one of our country's most historic natural landmarks. It's an absolute gem.

A medley of reflections, poems and stories, The Chief and I is a stirring account of a body of water and a precious exchange between two people and two generations tied together by their extraordinary love for humankind. Interspersed with personal reflections on faith and the artistry of simple things like baking bread, it is a spellbinding narrative with all of the best elements. Beauty. Uncertainty. Loss. Renewal. Vulnerability. But it is about wonder too, Karen likes remind to me. And joy. This is a book about quiet perseverance and rhythms, which is why I sometimes sleep with it under my pillow. It reminds me who I am.

The Chief and I by Karen Tootelian
Reviewed by Lenea England, Courthouse Market, King and Queen, Virginia

Once I began to read her book, I found myself unwilling to put it down. Reading into the night (knowing the mornings came very early). Weeping, laughing and wanting desperately to go take a dip in the Mattaponi River or a long walk in the woods. There are four years and two months of journaling during which the author skillfully reaches back into the past to let us catch glimpses of childhoods, spouses, family, friends, moments of raising children and other significant experiences. We are able to feel the warm relationship of the Chief with his wife. We see what it was like growing up as a Native American in the early 1900s. Along with insights into her own life and the life of the beloved Chief Little Eagle, Karen brings the reader back to their Soul. Back to what really matters. The home baked bread and chicken soup that give us the courage to go on when the days are cloudy and life seems so unfair. The beauty and peaceful ways of the Mattaponi River.