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Indian Yell
The New Book by Michael Blake
One hundred fifty years ago, America fought a determined insurgent force of Indian warriors struggling to protect their homeland. Then, the military faced circumstances that are now all-too familiar: supply lines stretched to their limits, too few soldiers to do the job, highly-motivated opponents, insurmountable cultural and language barriers, corruption by defense contractors, and a confused and conflicted populace at home. Michael Blake skillfully weaves these factors into a gripping narrative bringing to light the undercurrents of conflict between nations during America ’s westward expansion.
Grounded in meticulous research and written with an uncanny understanding of American Indian culture, Blake offers soulful profiles of the participants, both Indian and cavalry, reflecting the passion of a storyteller rather than that of a pedantic historian. Indian Yell is filled with accounts of harrowing sacrifice and tragic misdeeds of real people—Blake tells us of their lives and loves, their character, and their shortcomings in a way that lends a new perspective on America’s greatest insurgency.
Beginning in 1854 with a decrepit cow wandering into a Sioux encampment that sparked a slaughter, and ending with the last freezing gasps of breath from victims of the Wounded Knee massacre in late December 1890, the horrors and shame of war within our borders is recounted, reminding contemporary readers that while largely forgotten today, bitter memories of this war still haunt the American West. These are the struggles that initiated the end of one way of life and the beginning of another; this struggle must not be forgotten.
The Lungs of the Earth.
Michael Blake in support of American Forests.
During
a boyhood spent shuttling from town to town in Southern California I bore
witness to the wholesale destruction of enormous orange and avocado groves to
make way for the vast housing tracts and freeway systems that now permeate the
region�s landscape.
Seeing
the great groves uprooted and bulldozed into towering piles was difficult to
believe but incredulity was quickly channeled through childish eyes into an
opportunity to use the great pyres of dead trees as redoubts for dirt clod
battles. Then they went up in smoke and were forgotten in the frenzy of new
construction.
Fifty
years ago the life of the earth was not taught in school and the value of all
but human endeavor went unrealized. Few could conceive that the great, green
blanket that fuels our air could ever be threatened. Today,
too many of us who know better, still take it for granted.
We
know now that trees are the lungs of the earth; living, breathing conductors of
the oxygen on which we all depend. Yet we all over focus on daily, mundane
tribulations and scramble to maintain the artificial infrastructures we have
created while we let the natural world, the source of
our existence, slip away. Humankind continues to indulge its own presence on
Earth to the exclusion of all else, passing on to future generations more and
more earthly dilemmas.
We
are headed for air and water pollution beyond redemption and, should we
continue to walk down this path of destruction, that tree line in the distance,
the one so crucial to the health of all, will be gone. And as the lives of the
natural world pass, so will our own.
It does not have to be this way.
If
humankind can begin to express active concern for life other than its own, the
place where we live will begin to thrive again. And all those that follow us,
those in whom we place such high hopes, will have the opportunity to truly
celebrate their lives on Earth.
We
need a rising among us, a rising that acknowledges the active support our
natural world desperately needs. Action must now command the stage, action as
simple as a single, human being planting and raising a single seed.
It
can be done. Great forests can be retained and new ones initiated. Cities can
be made healthier. Fallow rural regions can be revitalized.
We
can have clean, secure drinking water and less erosion on the earth�s crust. We
can have fresher air and reduce levels of the carbon monoxide that is choking
the globe. We can control flooding and establish larger habitats for wildlife.
We can enjoy cooler temperatures and we can have an overall quality of life
that conforms to our dreams.
We
can have all these things without more massive human construction if we look to
the silent neighbors we take for granted�if we look to the trees.
Therein lays the difficulty.
We
can look to the trees and so what? Few of us know anything about the
complicated structure of trees or how they function. Nor do we know much about
where to place a seed or when to water or when to trim. Still fewer of us have
any notion of how to implement education or how to work with our cities and
towns or how to rehabilitate damaged ecosystems around the world.
American
Forests does.
They
are based in the nation�s capitol and are wholly devoted to the idea that our
natural world can be saved even as humankind develops.
American
Forests continues to provide literature and education about the necessity of a
healthy balance between man and the natural world and how to obtain it. They
offer eco-beneficial and sound financial alternatives to destruction of
privately owned forest, forest that will otherwise be over developed at the
expense of future generations.
American
Forests knows how to cultivate and nurture a seed into a successful growing tree.
They know where to plant new trees and have been doing so for decades. American
Forests is working for continued existence, natural as wee as human.
I
am a father of three children and I want my children to be able to enjoy and
explore great forests, jungles, deserts and plains. I want them to breathe
fresh air, drink clean water and marvel at unpolluted oceans and rivers. I want
them to feel part of the natural world, not superior. And I want the same for
their children.
Wide
public support for American Forests is not merely a step in the right
direction. Wide public support is a strong indication that humans are fit to
lead the living world; to serve, nourish and protect it.
Elevating
organizations of American Forests caliber is neither privilege,
nor pastime. Nor is it right or wrong.
It is duty.
I'm Alive: Michael Blakes second CD release
Michael Blake releases his second CD. Blake takes the stage at The Derby in Los Angeles March 16, 8:30, PM.
Go to our online store to check out the CD, books, posters and tee-shirts.
Don't miss the first live performance in support of I'm Alive at The Derby, 4500 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles on Sunday, March 16, 8:30, PM.
