Remnants of the First Earth

Ray A. Young Bear first introduced his fictional alter ego Edgar Bearchild in Black Eagle Child: The Facepaint Narratives. Now, in Remnants of the First Earth, he extends his protagonist's adventures, chronicling Edgar's difficult journey into manhood as he struggles to navigate between the traditions of his forefathers and the demands of the modern world. As the novel begins, Edgar is a child at the Black Eagle Child Settlement in the 1950s. His life is a mix of tribal pride and poverty, of white-run schools and Indian dances. As Edgar grows older, he experiences racism, the promise of love, the perils of a murder investigation, and visions.

Remnants of the First Earth moves back and forth between the novel's reality and the myths of the Black Eagle Child people, between present and the ancient past, and between the ordinary and the extraordinary. More a collage than a straightforward narrative, the novel requires patience and demands that attention be paid. Those who invest both in this remarkable book will find the return worth it.