Indian Braves #1

Green Arrowhead, a bridge-builder between white settlers and the Choctaw tribe, watches his hard-won peace crumble when a ruthless gun-trader manipulates both sides into conflict. As misunderstanding threatens to shatter the treaty, Green Arrowhead must navigate impossible loyalties between his father's rage and his conviction that the truth can still prevail.

When Pueblo Indians seek refuge from the murderous Apache outlaw Red Tomahawk, who has claimed Lost Canyon as his fortress, the righteous warrior Swift Elk devises a bold stratagem: he'll impersonate a panther—the Pueblos' sacred tribal god—to sow fear and discord among Red Tomahawk's fearless braves. As the "curse of the panther" spreads terror through the canyon and the Pueblos find their courage at last, Swift Elk closes in on his quarry, leading to a final reckoning that will decide the fate of Lost Canyon.

This nonfiction piece explores the customs and traditions of American Indian peoples, covering everything from the vision quests that young braves undertake at fourteen to the democratic governance of tribal councils and the spiritual reverence shown to hunted animals. The story also traces how Indians marked time with thirteen lunar months and their attempts to ward off winter through ritual. A secondary narrative follows Chief Wild Eagle of the Arapahoes as he races to prevent a breach of peace between his tribe and white settlers, discovering that treacherous braves within his own people have been committing raids under false tribal markings.

In the lawless frontier days, when ruthless cattle kings and renegade schemes threaten the peace, John Thundercloud—a respected Indian warrior—discovers that white men disguised as Native raiders are murdering homesteaders to seize their land. Thundercloud must unite the Sioux tribe and the local sheriff to expose the real culprits before a false war between the races can ignite.