Review by Worth Haile

Once in awhile, a book changes a life.

I spoke about this last year in a rare conversation with Author Marilou Awiakta, a Cherokee woman in Tennessee who writes about the power of earth and place. We laughed about the peculiar intimacy of words, and I thought of all the writers with whom I've shared late nights and bad breath and hot tea and great dreams.

She had given me a seed of corn as a gift, to remind me of what can come of small beginnings. I remember looking over at her and saying, "Sometimes all we have is a book."

She smiled. "I know," she replied. "People like you is why I write."

I cannot help but think about 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. I am fortunate to know the author well. And I can attest to her inexhaustible ability to be mindfully grateful of the gifts the world has to offer.

Lucky for us townies, Tootelian will be here in the flesh from March 20-21st to commemorate Chief Little Eagle's passing during a special two day event at the Fredericksburg Atheneaum. Funded in part by grants and sponsors, the weekend will kick off with a reception for the author and a live reading on Friday night.

Events are free and continue on Saturday afternoon with a special workshop; activities coincide directly with a statewide initiative generated by the Virginia Foundation for Humanities to engage the public in conversation about the value of rural Virginia, which can occasionally be a long and complicated, if not painful, discussion.

But with Tootelian in particular, issues like this lead to softer, gentler places, and the talk turns to good. After all, 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.

Tootelian writes, "We make it through darkness, and there is no way around it. Each day we face it, then somehow, light seeps in and we walk into it and keep walking. And it comes to me that the only power I have is love."