The Chief and I by Karen Tootelian
Reviewed by L. Diana McMillion
Pleasant Living, November–December 2007

Karen Tootelian’s intimate journal The Chief and I begs closer attention to the beauty found in nature and humanity. Beginning in early 2002, she becomes a companion of the eighty-nine year old Chief of the Mattaponi Indian tribe, Webster Little Eagle Custalow. The chief’s gentle ways and wisdom are recorded as a shining light to those who knew him, and Karen details their friendship, her love for the land, and the fight to preserve the Mattaponi River.

Although the chief initially doesn’t want any help, he quickly warms to Karen. A master storyteller, he relates life experiences, which span from the Great Depression to the ongoing battle to preserve the Mattaponi River that has sustained his people. The chief’s power and intelligence shine in this journal, made all the more poignant by his present-day struggle with aging, a facet of the story that is especially touching. His considerable power and respect in the community is clearly apparent. As we share these experiences with Karen, we can’t help but warm to her enthusiastic, attentive way of caring for this noble, kind man, and are reminded of the wise elderly ones in our own lives.

The author’s love for the chief is inseparable from her consuming love of the land and the river, which is gloriously and lyrically described. In a society where the beauty of the environment is often overlooked, The Chief and I is an undeniable song of praise to the gifts of nature and the inherent spiritual connection of humans with the land. And winding through the heart of the book is the river, flowing through the lives of Karen and Chief Custalow, indelibly binding them together. When the river is threatened by the City of Newport News, Karen unites with the chief to fight for its preservation. In doing so, they pour themselves out as an offering to the river and to the countless souls tied to its dark waters.

The Chief and I reminds us of our connection with nature and humanity—a connection that cannot be broken and must never be ignored. Pl