Adopted by Indians: A True Story

by Thomas Jefferson Mayfield, Hilair Chism (Illustrator), Rick Jones (Illustrator)

This book gives younger readers a close-up view of traditional California Indian life and early California. Thomas Jefferson Mayfield kept a wonderful secret for almost sixty the secret of his childhood among the Choinumne Indians of California's San Joaquin Valley. For twelve years he played and slept alongside Choinmune children, he hunted and fished with them, ate their food and wore their clothes.  Adopted by Indians  is the story of a boy who had an adventure that we can only dream about and it is absolutely true.  Adopted by Indians  has been approved by the California Department of Education and is listed in the Instructional Materials Approved for Legal Compliance Catalog.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native American

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Pamela]

This "children's" version was great to read. I enjoyed learning about the Indians Thomas lived with.

[Juli Brown]

This is an amazing book and a great intro to native Americans. This true story also counts as a biography which is great!

[Elisabeth Harmon]

Kinda dry but followed by a field trip it was more interesting!

[Kim]

Some of the descriptions got a little long, but this was such an informative peek into the lives of one of the native CA tribes.

[Chanell Friedman]

It’s a really informative book, but unfortunately it’s written pretty poorly. Just bogged down with so many details—the author will mention an Indian house and then spend 2 pages describing every aspect of how the house was built. If you’ve ever heard the phrase, “show in writing, don’t tell,” well this is the epitome of lots and lots of telling.

[Darcy]

Informative, but it was a dull read aloud with my daughter.

[Brandi Younce]

This book gave great insight into the native American in our local area. At times the book was a little slow but then would pick back up again. All in all I really enjoyed it.

[Kerrie Rodgerson]

Amazing story, but most of it was very informational - more like a textbook.

[Kayla Jones]

Lacks the personal story and focuses on facts only, I sincerely was hoping for more.

[Miriam]

Fascinating details about Native American life in the San Juaquin Valley, based on the memories of a man who lived with them as a child.