What do you think?
Rate this book
White Indian #7
War Cry
A call to battle and a woman's arms - a bold rebel challenges his legacy and his nation.
327 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
About the author
Donald Clayton Porter
54 books62 followersThe Colonization of America series was renamed to The White Indian Series with Book V, Renno.
1914-1988.
Noel B. Gerson
aka
Anne Marie Burgess, Samuel Edwards, Leon Phillips, Donald Clayton Porter, Dana Fuller Ross (with James Reasoner)
1914-1988.
Noel B. Gerson
aka
Anne Marie Burgess, Samuel Edwards, Leon Phillips, Donald Clayton Porter, Dana Fuller Ross (with James Reasoner)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 25, 2026
It is 1755 and trouble besets the Ohio Valley. The French have allied themselves with some neighboring tribes, ready to make war on the English colonies and their American Indian allies. When the Seneca leader Renno, a white Indian now in his 80’s, hears of the threat, he quickly warns his Iroquois brethren to make ready for war. He presciently foresees a greater conflict that will become the French and Indian War.
While the Iroquois League initially come to quick defense of their colonial allies, tension within the Seneca tribe comes from Ghonkaba, Renno’s grandson, now a strong leader and fighter in his own right, who is becoming more and more open with his shame at being related to these white Indians leading the Seneca who always support the British colonists against the French.
As this tale moves along, we watch as Ghonkaba's questioning contrarianism shifts from being a weakness to a strength, centered squarely on his comradeship with a young Colonel named George Washington. Washington is almost like this story's true shadow protagonist.
Ghonkaba’s interracial courtship of the lovely Beth Strong serves as this novel’s attempt at bridging cultural differences by illustrating what makes us all similar but is mostly just convenient, unearned, and odd.
From a historical perspective, this tale takes place around the notable events of Washington's surrender of Fort Necessity, the early stages of the French and Indian War, and the death of British General Braddock at the Battle of the Monongahela.
From a prose and plot perspective, as a detraction there's way too much of a common problem seen in Native American historical fictions, that being a lot of exaggerated and lengthy eloquence and exposition, speakers talking to each other in dramatic prose, almost like unending closing arguments in a courtroom drama, efforting to convince others to take sides or stand together, to remember their history, trying to convince others of their honesty or character; just a lot of relating and performance art-speak that isn't interesting.
Verdict: "War Cry" (1983) is a good read, George Washington is pretty great, and if you have a younger reader looking for historical fiction US history reads, this might work. Porter has a few dozen of these novels in the White Indian series and he handles the various tribes in those books with due insight and respect and his characters are memorable.
Jeff’s Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
Movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13
While the Iroquois League initially come to quick defense of their colonial allies, tension within the Seneca tribe comes from Ghonkaba, Renno’s grandson, now a strong leader and fighter in his own right, who is becoming more and more open with his shame at being related to these white Indians leading the Seneca who always support the British colonists against the French.
As this tale moves along, we watch as Ghonkaba's questioning contrarianism shifts from being a weakness to a strength, centered squarely on his comradeship with a young Colonel named George Washington. Washington is almost like this story's true shadow protagonist.
Ghonkaba’s interracial courtship of the lovely Beth Strong serves as this novel’s attempt at bridging cultural differences by illustrating what makes us all similar but is mostly just convenient, unearned, and odd.
From a historical perspective, this tale takes place around the notable events of Washington's surrender of Fort Necessity, the early stages of the French and Indian War, and the death of British General Braddock at the Battle of the Monongahela.
From a prose and plot perspective, as a detraction there's way too much of a common problem seen in Native American historical fictions, that being a lot of exaggerated and lengthy eloquence and exposition, speakers talking to each other in dramatic prose, almost like unending closing arguments in a courtroom drama, efforting to convince others to take sides or stand together, to remember their history, trying to convince others of their honesty or character; just a lot of relating and performance art-speak that isn't interesting.
Verdict: "War Cry" (1983) is a good read, George Washington is pretty great, and if you have a younger reader looking for historical fiction US history reads, this might work. Porter has a few dozen of these novels in the White Indian series and he handles the various tribes in those books with due insight and respect and his characters are memorable.
Jeff’s Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
Movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13
June 8, 2009
Renno's grandson, Ghonkaba, is now a warrior who has a hard time accepting his leaders' decisions as absolute law. He questions the alliance the Iroquois have made with the English at a time when the English need all the help they can get.
This really should have been one of the stronger books in this series. Ghonkaba is not perfect. Far from it. He still has almost-supernatural abilities, but he has a lot of room for personal growth. Renno and Ja-gonh were already perfect and there was no character growth. But the areas where Ghonkaba needs to learn a few things just drove me crazy. He's very intolerant of those who are different than him. As the son of a white man and a Seneca woman, that doesn't make any sense. He thinks all white people are alike. He's intolerant of those who don't share his physical abilities. In short, he comes across as a jerk.
I did like that this book finally got around to showing some of the tension that had to have been present between the colonists and the Native Americans from the beginning. In the other books, they were practically one big happy family. There are finally signs of strain in this installment.
My biggest problem was that War Cry came across as filler. It seemed like the author was tired of writing so much about Renno and Ja-gonh and wanted to move on to the American Revolution. But he knew he needed to establish another strong character. So he threw this book in for the heck of it. There were a few conflicts that were set up but never addressed. It's obvious that they will be at least part of the focus of the next book.
If you've read and liked the rest of the series, you'll probably like this one. But I wouldn't recommend starting out of order with this one.
This really should have been one of the stronger books in this series. Ghonkaba is not perfect. Far from it. He still has almost-supernatural abilities, but he has a lot of room for personal growth. Renno and Ja-gonh were already perfect and there was no character growth. But the areas where Ghonkaba needs to learn a few things just drove me crazy. He's very intolerant of those who are different than him. As the son of a white man and a Seneca woman, that doesn't make any sense. He thinks all white people are alike. He's intolerant of those who don't share his physical abilities. In short, he comes across as a jerk.
I did like that this book finally got around to showing some of the tension that had to have been present between the colonists and the Native Americans from the beginning. In the other books, they were practically one big happy family. There are finally signs of strain in this installment.
My biggest problem was that War Cry came across as filler. It seemed like the author was tired of writing so much about Renno and Ja-gonh and wanted to move on to the American Revolution. But he knew he needed to establish another strong character. So he threw this book in for the heck of it. There were a few conflicts that were set up but never addressed. It's obvious that they will be at least part of the focus of the next book.
If you've read and liked the rest of the series, you'll probably like this one. But I wouldn't recommend starting out of order with this one.
April 18, 2015
I have read this entire series far more times than I might possibly count, much like a dear old friend, I simply cannot bear not visiting with him and "catching up," time and time again.
Donald Clayton Porter started this masterful series and in my opinion; when in later storylines he characters fade somewhat as Mr. Porter continually pushed out new editions it seemed to dilute the perspective of the original mind-set. In all honestly, after #10 I begin to lose interest and the it just feels to be too much along the lines of pure pulp media and like he is banging away at the keyboards strictly for the sake of monetary gain. I am not an idiot, of course that is why he writes in the first place, but the lineage simply cannot compare with Renno, the "White Indian."
Don't misunderstand me, I still own them all and love them dearly, it is just that I have read 1-10 probably a dozen and a half times each, the rs read just the once.
Donald Clayton Porter started this masterful series and in my opinion; when in later storylines he characters fade somewhat as Mr. Porter continually pushed out new editions it seemed to dilute the perspective of the original mind-set. In all honestly, after #10 I begin to lose interest and the it just feels to be too much along the lines of pure pulp media and like he is banging away at the keyboards strictly for the sake of monetary gain. I am not an idiot, of course that is why he writes in the first place, but the lineage simply cannot compare with Renno, the "White Indian."
Don't misunderstand me, I still own them all and love them dearly, it is just that I have read 1-10 probably a dozen and a half times each, the rs read just the once.
October 20, 2015
For a 2 month period I went through the first dozen of this series. I remember enjoying it in high school and they have collected dust on the shelf since. Every time I looked at them I thought I should read them again but not having an electronic version hampered my desire. I finally got back into the world of the Seneca tribe when the pilgrims first came to this country. Following multipal generations of this family is enjoyable. Held up pretty good.
June 17, 2016
Paperback
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews