Blue Jacket: Warrior of the Shawnees--Book review

We hope you will find at least a book or two to read from these selections.

Guest Reviewers

The Northern Lights: The True Story of the Man Who Unlocked the Secrets of the Aurora Borealis. Lucy Jago. Book Review by Janet.

Seventy Times Seven and Beyond: Mystery of the Second Chance. Monty Christensen and Roberta L. Kehle. Book review by Uriah.

Dune. Frank Herbert. Book review by Rourke.

The Children of First Man. James Alexander Thom. Book review by Jan.

The Legend of Prince Madoc and the White Indians. Dana Olson. Book review by Jan.

Blue Jacket: Warrior of the Shawnees. John Sugden. Book review by Jan.

Below are selections from the home site, Book Reader's Traverse. See what Tracey, Joel, and Jane have to say about the books they read.

Hello - my Name is Jan - and I am a recovering non-reader. I wasn't born a non-reader - I used to be a very respectable reader once upon a time - I would simply devour books, reading something significant each and every day. But somewhere along the line my time and attention gradually but eventually just faded away, and before I knew it I was no longer a respectable reader. Books I sincerely meant to read just laid around unopened, and gathered dust, or became lost entirely. I wasn't even giving my junk mail a cursory glance. But, some very good friends have finally brought this problem to my full attention, and I promise you all here and now that I will fight to become a respectable reader once again! I will dig deep and I will rediscover my time and attention! I will set things aright once again with all of the pages and volumes that can and will be mine once more! I promise that I will reach out and pick up that unopened book and I will experience all of the joys and thrills and magic inherent within those pages. And I promise that I will faithfully share my rediscovery efforts with each of you through this wonderful web site. Thank you. Thank you all so very much.

Respectfully yours, Jan Bodine.

Blue Jacket: Warrior of the Shawnees (American Indian Lives). John Sugden. University of Nebraska Press. 2003.

Book review by Jan
My brother recently gave me a genealogy program for my computer, and my life has never been the same since then. I have really enjoyed getting involved with this research, and I especially enjoy this "virtual" type of family reunion - at least these ancestors do not pinch my cheeks or tell me to sit up straight and eat my vegetables. And, I have had the added benefit of "meeting" several other distant relatives online. Many others have worked on the Mackey family genealogy before me, but we all hit the same "brick wall" when it came to one ancestor, James Mackey, who was born about 1790. With this new computer program, and the extra benefit of a Y-DNA sample, we were finally able to at least identify the family line our James Mackey was descended from. One person in this family line stands out as being of particular interest. This man had migrated to several locations in America in order to avoid conflicts based on property right disputes. But, eventually he was forced to stand his ground and he fought bravely for the sake of his land and family. He eventually settled in Ohio in the late 1700s, and he established a very comfortable home there. His home was furnished with table linens and silverware and a curtained, poster bed. He grew large crops of corn and he owned a significant herd of cattle. He also profited from a lucrative fur trade. He sent one of his sons to be schooled in Detroit - one of the very first to do so from this early frontier. He always held his family close to his heart and lived his entire life in accordance with his deep religious convictions. This man's name was Waweyapiersenwah - although he was more commonly referred to as Blue Jacket - War Chief of the Shawnee Nation. Our ancestor, James Mackey, has been confirmed as an exact match to the family line of Blue Jacket. From the evidence we have been able to gather to date, our James Mackey is believed to have adopted his mother's surname. This was probably because her European surname allowed him to blend into and function better within European society. We believe his mother was probably a daughter of the Shawnee Indian Agent, Alexander Mc Kee - we believe this surname became Mc Key and eventually Mackey. So, instead of finding ancestors who have been in this country for about 200 years we have uncovered our family line which has lived here for over 2000 years. We are more than slightly amazed by these very unexpected results. Of additional interest, another recent DNA project has confirmed that Blue Jacket was NOT one and the same person as a white man by the name of Marmaduke Swearington. Much of what I have been able to learn about our ancestor's background has come from a book titled: Blue Jacket - Warrior of the Shawnee, written by John Sugden and published by the University of Nebraska Press. I have gained an entirely new perspective on our early American history - one that is filled with great love of family and great respect for the land, deep religious convictions, and more conflict and intrigue than any modern day political thriller. Even if you do not know of, or suspect, any Native American heritage in your own family line, this book is still an excellent source of information relating to the circumstances and events which eventually shaped our Nation during these early, tumultuous years. The book is extremely well researched, and it offers many interesting facts as well as many surprises along the way.

Jan.