Heetunka’s Harvest,

Author: Jones, Jennifer Berry

Book Description

This authentic Sioux Indian legend illustrates the disastrous consequences when greed destroys the balance between humans and nature.
In the fall, when Heetunka the Bean Mouse gathers earth beans for her underground storehouse, the women from the tipi encampment come to trade suet or dried green corn for beans. One Dakota woman wants some beans to add to her stew. Disregarding the lessons of her grandmothers, she takes every bean. offering nothing in exchange. That night, she dreams of a spirit scolding her for her selfishness; her greediness returns to haunt her when a fierce prairie fire destroys her tipi. This authentic Native American legend is handsomely illustrated with detailed. Evocative color paintings by the award-winning artist Shannon Keegan.

Publishers Weekly Review

Jones discards Native American storytelling conventions in her version of a Plains Indian tale; the result is an abruptly moderated cautionary tale. A Dakota woman, proud of her thorough preparations for winter, turns greedy as she contemplates Heetunka the Bean Mouse's store of rich white beans. Instead of taking what she needs and leaving behind the customary exchange, she scoops up every last bean. The woman behaves ever more selfishly and destructively, until she finally loses her well-appointed tipi in a prairie fire that, pointedly, leaves her neighbors' homes untouched. Stripped of Native American formalities, the story seems bare, inviting readers to doubt the protagonist's sudden descent into moral bankruptcy. Keegan's illustrations, framed in a motif incorporating quill work, fetish shells and feathers, add authenticity, while an author's note and glossary provide valuable documentation. Ages 6-12. (Jan.)

Roberts Rinehart Publishers in conjunction with the Council for Indian Education, 1994.

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