Letter to Students

Dear Readers,

Our experience writing this book began when meeting with Monacan Tribal Elders. This was the first of many collaborative efforts that would lead to the completion of this story.

Chapter three begins with the exploration of many symbols that hold significance in many Monacan individuals’ lives. The Schoolhouse, the Household, and the Eagle Feather all served important roles within the stories of these Elders. Thus, it was crucial that we included these elements when describing Maverick’s Monacan Journey. In the latter section of Chapter 3, the focus on how the Monacan Elders lived in the past was inspired by the stories that we heard from our visit to the Monacan Nation. For example, the baseball story was directly provided to us by the Elders. The pure joy and happiness they had when retelling their childhood inspired us to try and portray this story in the same light. The other story, regarding 100 Pedro, was inspired by our visit as well. They told us about the rich history behind the game and how it had been passed down for generations in the Monacan Nation. We wanted to emphasize the sense of community that these games exuded.

Which leads to our overall goal of having you all you all to discover the important values that have shaped the Monacan people — hard work, pride, resilience, and the spirit of sharing within their neighborhoods. Throughout these chapters, you will learn about important events in history that created challenges for the Monacan community but also showed their strength and adversity through hard times. It’s important to note how gender roles work in Monacan society and how men and women both contribute equally to their community’s success. We hope you enjoy and have fun learning about the Manacan Tribe just like Maverick is!

Speak Truth,

Mikael, Christian, Lucas, Alan