Product Description

In 1847, an impoverished group of Choctaw Indians collected $170 from their meager resources for the relief of Ireland's Potato Famine. "The Long March" is the story of Choona, a young Choctaw who must make his own decision about whether to answer the Irish people's plea for help.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #564176 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In a starred review, PW called this story of the Choctaw Indians, who raised money to aid the Irish during the great potato famine, "a deeply moving work." Ages 7-up.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5AIn the 1830s, the United States government forced the people of the Choctaw Nation to leave their homeland in the area of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, and to walk 500 miles to Indian territory, which later became Oklahoma. These people suffered from starvation, cold, and lack of promised provisions. Many died along the way. Yet, in 1847, when a call went out to help people starving during Ireland's Potato Famine, the Choctaw responded, and sent all they could collect from their meager earnings. This sophisticated picture book describes a Choctaw family who must decide if they want to help faraway Europeans, and who, in the process, try to come to terms with the humiliation and suffering they felt about the Long March. Fitzpatrick collaborated with Choctaw representatives to relate this moving true story with universal appeal. Her striking black-and-white drawings capture the events and show great respect and dignity for all of the characters and their concerns. The words and illustrations work together extremely well, presenting the story in a clear and compelling manner.ADarcy Schild, Schwegler Elementary School, Lawrence, KS
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4^-7. Part history, part parable, this moving picture book tells the true story of how the impoverished Choctaw Indians sent relief to help the Irish during the potato famine in 1847. At first the boy Choona, 14, is furious (the Europeans "have come to our land and taken it from us . . . Why should we help them?"). Then his great-grandmother, Talihoyo, describes the horror of the Choctaws' Long March. Quietly she tells how the Choctaws were forced to leave their homeland in Mississippi and walk 500 miles west in the freezing winter. Half the people died ("All the old ones. All the small children. Gone"). Fitzpatrick's strong, detailed pencil illustrations are as direct and beautiful as the words, capturing the sweeping landscape and the individual portraits of Choctaw people across generations. Most moving is the double-page spread showing the Long March, with tiny individual figures bent and struggling through the endless snow. Choona listens and feels the bond between his own people's displacement and the Irish desperation. Irish author-illustrator Fitzpatrick, who worked with Choctaw editor Gary WhiteDeer, tells the history through the fictional voice of an old man remembering. The message is in the connections. Hazel Rochman

Customer Reviews

not stereotypic
This book seems to be a wonderful portrayal of a Native American family and community and their culture and history. One point that I appreciate is that the author tried to stay true to the Choctaw cultural activities, arts and lifestyle in the beautiful drawings and text. The author did not meld several different tribal cultures together as a homogenous "Native American culture." The message of the book also helps young readers to respect the sacrifices and values of the tribe, as well as to question the way Euro-Americans treated them in the past. A treasured book.

A profound look at history & community
In 1847 an impoverished displaced group of Choctaw Indians collected from their meager resources the sum of $170 to send toward food relief for the Irish Potato Famine.

Through the memories of Choona, now known as Tom, who is very, very old, we learn of how he, as a young man, at last learned of that part of his family's history about which no one would speak & yet everyone looked so wounded. The Long March, when his people were forced to walk from Florida to Mississippi all through one fearsome, killing winter.

The Long March is rich in American history & memory. The marvelous drawings create a magically real place. This is a must for anyone who loves looking at other ways to live in community; other ways of teaching the spirit to grow & learning about courage, wisdom & respecting the memories.

An amazing book - to be read & read again & again & the pictures to be studied & dreamed over. Beautifully evocative.

This is a moving and beautiful book with awesome drawings.
(I got this book in Dublin, Ireland, recently.)

This is a truly delightful book. The drawings are lovingly created and the story is both touching and well written. What makes it even more compelling is that it is based on a wonderful true act of human generosity over 150 years ago, from one impoverished people to another, who, although worlds apart in both distance and cultures, had a common enemy, in hunger and oppression.

The author travelled to Oklahoma to research the book and has gone to great lengths to ensure the drawings are authentic as well as inspiring. I particularly like the drawings of the great-grandmother and indeed,the clever shadow of the American eagle when Choona raises his arms in the final drawing as well as the subtle, celtic symbols to be found in this same drawing. "The Long March" is a must for the millions of us with Irish-American heritage - every Irish American child should read this book!