Sage Dreams, Eagle Visions

Book excerpt: Amanda Aaron, a woman of mixed Ojibwe and white heritage, spent twenty years living in Milwaukee, away from her home and family. After the deaths of her parents, a short-lived marriage to an abusive non-Indian, and finally a tragic accident in which her friends were killed, she is pushed into a state of depression. Acting on her doctor's orders, she returns to her grandparents' cabin on her home reservation in northern Wisconsin, seeking the solitude she needs to recover. Migizi, the Eagle, the Grandfather's messenger, gifts Amanda with a feather, then visits her one night in her bedroom. Wanting to believe it was a dream, but knowing it was not, Amanda seeks the advice and counsel of Elders on the reservation who, in turn, introduce Amanda to Noah, a spiritual man who can guide and advise her as her life becomes complicated with unwanted responsibilities. Eventually, Amanda is forced to admit that the void she has been experiencing can only be filled by a return to the reservation--a life that has always enriched her and provided her with the needed strength to achieve her goals.