MI’CA BUFFALO HUNTER written and illustrated...

MI’CA BUFFALO HUNTER written and illustrated by Jane Bendix (Council for Indian Education, 517 Rimrock Road, Billings, Montana: $9.95). Bendix’s juvenile novel focuses on a Mi’ca--short for Mi’caksica (“coyote”)--a Dakota Sioux boy preparing for the visionquest that will mark his transition to manhood. In 1740, escaped horses from the Spanish settlements in the Southwest had just reached the upper Midwest. Mi’ca befriends a trapped horse he discovers, which causes him to be kidnaped, then adopted by another tribe, the Teton Sioux. He makes the transition from one tribe to another with little effort or emotional cost, which weakens an otherwise exciting narrative. Although “Buffalo Hunter” was written specifically for Amerindian students, readers of all ethnic backgrounds will enjoy the descriptions of traditional crafts, including how to make a bow and arrow and prepare porcupine quills for embroidered decorations on leather.