| |
|
Synopsis
_______________________________________________________________
|
 |
"Dead Water Rites"
by Monty Joynes
Joseph,
the tribal holy man of a small Pueblo tribe, has a vision.
The water, which comes naturally from the earth and sky, the
priceless compound of elements that forms and supports life,
is dying. In the dream, Joseph and his tribal priests were
performing a funeral ceremony for a formerly living source
of water. What did the dream mean? Was a long sacred
spring going dry? Was a holy lake threatened? Did a river
or stream cry out in need? Water is not a commodity to
traditional Indians. Water is a spiritual element that is
life itself. For the Indians of the Southwest, water as
rain for their crops of corn, beans, and squash has always
meant life. Mountain springs are holy shrines where
feathered prayer sticks are placed in supplication. All
religious ceremony uses water as a sacramental medium.
Water is elemental to how Indians see themselves as human
beings.
|
|
During Booker’s
mission to defend tribal water rights, he
encounters Cathia, a radical environmental
activist, and a romance begins. Sue and Debbie,
the reformed Vegas showgirls from the two
previous novels, mature in their new lives. The
developers plot to use the lure of a casino to
undermine tribal water rights and secure the
bribed cooperation of the tribal council as the
critical vote arrives. Joseph, priest and
leader of the tribal traditionals, cannot
participate in conflict, so the defense of the
water must be spiritually achieved. The
climatic solution is both visionary and
believable, as it involves all the major Indian
characters in the series. |
 |
|
"Dead Water Rites"
Reviews
_______________________________________________________________
|
|
 “DEAD
WATER RITES strikes like a lightning bolt at the
heart of an issue critical to our survival.
Monty Joynes’s work is Spirit driven.”
|
|
“As
an Indian reader of DEAD WATER RITES, I am left
with the feeling of having been well instructed
not only to the potential catastrophe of a
waterless West from the environmentalist point
of view, but by one whose joint characters
‘Booker’ and ‘Anglo’ look with great insight
into the real threat posed by thoughtless
‘progressives’ to the sacredness of water and
life in general.”
Lloyd Kiva New, Cherokee
Elder
|
|
“What
Monty Joynes has accomplished in DEAD WATER
RITES, his fourth book in the remarkable Booker
series, is the rare joining of a page-turning
story line, lively with action and memorable
characters, together with a sustained poetic
meditation on the power and glory of water in
the world. The spiritual vision, the outward
and inner lives of the invincible Southwestern
Indians, are beautifully summoned up and
celebrated. DEAD WATER RITES is a powerful
story and a pure pleasure to
read.”
George
Garrett, Author and Critic
|
|
“Rare
depth and thoroughness…and an intelligent
openness to the possibility of vision.”
Henry Taylor, Pulitzer
Prize-winning poet
|
|
“Joynes
writes with integrity, understanding, and real
respect.”
Magical
Blend
|
|
“Dead
Water Rites is the fourth book in the Booker
Series by Monty Joynes. However, readers new to
Joynes will understand its powerful message of
man’s fate if he continues to rape the earth.
A white man known sometimes as
Booker and sometimes as Anglo “searches for new
identity and spiritual completeness among the
Pueblo people.” He learns how water is the very
lifeblood of the People, and that they regard it
as a “living being.” A tribal elder sees the
water drying up and dying, and trusts Booker
with the mission of finding the source of the
“sick water.”
If the water is
truly dying, then the dead water rites will be
performed, and life will cease to exist. As he
searches for the sick water, Booker also
continues his journey of spiritual growth. He
meets a militant female environmentalist and
begins learning of some of the politics involved
in water rights. He also learns that perhaps
the celibate life isn’t right for him after all.
A group of land developers with
the philosophy that “any day is a good day to
make money” are also looking at the water. They
draw up a proposal for a gambling casino,
replete with promises of economic security.
Buried in the fine print are the clauses handing
over all water rights.
A former real
estate developer himself, Booker recognizes the
true impact of the casino on the People. He
explains this to the tribal elders, who say that
they will “continue to pray and seek a vision.”
Booker and the young woman are seriously injured
in a car accident, from which it takes months to
recover. The developers move ahead unhampered
with their plans.
DEAD WATER
RITES “is lucid and literary, an articulate and
artful plea to cease our self-destructive
exploitation of the environment and native
people.” Those who read it will gain a new
respect for the liquid essential to all life on
Earth, and a better understanding of those who
seek to keep it alive.”
The Midwest Book Review
|
|
“This
series is so powerfully and beautifully
written. It reads at times like pure poetry.
The reader cares about the characters and seeks
to obtain the spiritual balance and peace found
in their world.
The next in the
series is eagerly anticipated! Lloyd Kiva New,
founder of the Institute of American Indian
Arts, says of DEAD WATER RITES: ‘All four books
display an uncanny understanding of Indian ways
in general and show special concerns for the
sacredness of Pueblo tribes in particular.’
Other novels in
the Booker series include NAKED INTO THE NIGHT,
LOST IN LAS VEGAS, and SAVE THE GOOD SEED.
Although DEAD WATER RITES can be appreciated on
its own merits, reading the whole series gives
the reader the full spiritual experience
intended by the author.”
The Light Connection
|
|
I
was introduced to your Booker series by a
supporter of and volunteer for Hacienda de los
Milagros, our lifetime animal sanctuary here in
Chino Valley, AZ. The books, while "fiction,"
are something that everyone, especially what
Annie Wilson-Schaef calls white minds, should
read, and re-read. I just finished Dead Water
Rites and feel it is one of the three most
important books I have read, period. The others
are Native Wisdom for White Minds, and
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. I wish that
every school would require all students to read
these three books.
Wynne Zaugg
|
I
have just completed reading the Booker series
for the fourth time (this time aloud to my
companion--all four books). Since reading the
series, which I thoroughly enjoyed at that time
and each subsequent time, this time I am aware
of my own spiritual growth gained during the
interim that has so enhanced this reading beyond
measure. I can only say, thank you for your
insight and absolutely wonderful way with words
and phrases. I often stopped and re-read a
descriptive sentence over and over aloud, just
to hear it again as well as to contemplate the
beauty that it held.
Some of us on this planet are truly gifted, and
your use of story telling to share your
"awareness" is reaching out to the world in a
most delightful way. I, for one, am most
grateful.
Marilyn Outerbridge, AZ. |
 |
|
_______________________________________________________________
|
|
