The Injun Project

Spanning generations on Maryland's Eastern Shore, The Injun Project weaves together a forgotten history and a modern search for identity. In 1914, a violent tragedy binds two families together through love, loss, and survival. Decades later, Will Eames, restless and disillusioned, stumbles upon a hidden Native settlement on land he believes he owns. What he finds is not empty property, but a living community whose roots run deeper than deeds or records. In thinking about how he can improve the lot of the local Indians--Maryland's "invisible people"--Will realizes that he could help these native peoples to build and operate their own casino and reap funds from all the regular flows of weekenders coming over the Bay from Baltimore and Washington to visit the beaches. This then becomes Will's first Indian Project. But to build an "Indian casino" the tribe has to be Federally recognized. And so then he has to go to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington. It is there that he first meets Manotoka, herself an Indian from one of the coastal tribes living in Virginia. In fact she is not only a staffer for the Bureau she is one of the first lawyers ever to arise out of her tribe and she is at the same time, the "chief " of her tribe. Her name is Mataoka--the Powhattan tribe's name more commonly known as Pocahontas. They both fall in love with each other almost at once. This becomes for the rest of the story, Will's second Injun project: trying to convince Mataoka to marry him. She is reluctant to marry Will because she is a dark skinned Indian and she fears what her own tribe would think of her if she married a White man. A powerful story of heritage, justice, and belonging, The Injun Project asks: what does it truly mean to own land, and what does it cost to ignore the voices of the past? "The story's setting of the late 90s is well developed, exploring everything from baseball culture through the character's venture to Oriole games, to the amazement many had at the character's new Motorola cellphone, and so much more. The imagery in the author's writing and the detailed way the author was able to bring the land and the people Will encountered throughout the story to life was both visceral and compelling. The rich culture and history of the Nanticoke people, along with the complex nature of US laws concerning land rights and recognition of Native American tribes, is thoroughly explored in this narrative, raising important questions about what rights the government really has to take land in the firstplace. This is a driven and detailed narrative that readers will become immersed in greatly."- Christina Avina, Hollywood Book Reviews