Lands of our Ancestors Book Two

Lands of our Ancestors #2

by Gary Robinson

Kilik, Tuhuy and the other Native American children have escaped from a Spanish mission in California in the early 1800s. They find the village of other runaway Indians and become part of that community. As they grow and mature, they have children of their own. Together they must face a new set of adversaries, the Mexican Rancheros who have received massive land grants to establish huge cattle ranches. Book Two recounts the exciting and dangerous adventures this Chumash family experience in this multigenerational saga.

196 pages, Paperback

Published June 10, 2018

Reviews

[Caren Pantoja]

Lands of Our Ancestors Book Two: Rancho Period by Gary Robinson is the follow-up book to Lands of Our Ancestors: The Mission Period. After the Chumash family is forced to work as slaves in different California Missions, they finally succeed in an escape plan. The main characters Tuhuy and Kilik, two chumash boys are forced to lead a group of children out to safety. They escape and are responsible of going back to their native village, Place of River Turtles. Using the knowledge and skills they remember from the teachings of their parents and ancestors, the children escape successfully and reach their destination. After years, the children grow up and begin families of their own. Unfortunately, it takes many years for them to re-connect to the adults they left in the missions. In this book, Tuhuy, Kilik and their new families are now facing a similar situation as the missions. They are kidnapped and forced to work in rancherias of Californios or Mexicans. Just like in the missions, the Natives are forced to do difficult labor with no pay. Different from the missions, however, the natives are not forced to forget their cultures or languages. Unfortunately, they do undergo a lot of difficulties due to the cruel treatment of the Mexicans or Californios. The novel ends with once again, a successful escape plan and revolt against the rancheros. This novel contains an overview of the Mexican Rancho period and many important elements that allow students to understand this topic within the context of California’s history and content standards. It is a great tool for teachers to use in the classroom, especially fourth grade teachers that teach California history. It gives students the opportunity to learn about California's history through the perspective of Natives, not the colonizers. Native Americans are depicted in a very humanizing, resilient and heroic way.