I Heard The Owl Call My Name

I Heard The Owl Call My Name. Margaret Craven. January 1980 (first published in 1967) Laurel. 159 pages. Source: Betterworldbooks.com

First sentence: He stood at the wheel, watching the current stream, and the bald eagles fishing for herring that waited until the boat was almost upon them to lift, to drop the instance it had passed.

Plot: Amid the grandeur of the remote Pacific Northwest stands Kingcome, a village so ancient that, according to Kwakiutl myth, it was founded by the two brothers left on earth after the great flood. The Native Americans who still live there call it Quee, a place of such incredible natural richness that hunting and fishing remain primary food sources. 

But the old culture of totems and potlatch is being replaces by a new culture of prefab housing and alcoholism. Kingcome's younger generation is disenchanted and alienated from its heritage. And now, coming upriver is a young vicar, Mark Brian, on a journey of discovery that can teach him—and us—about life, death, and the transforming power of love.

My thoughts: The cover of this book actually drew me in however this isn't the version that I actually read.  A white man, a vicar, goes to live among the Natives.  He has a lot to learn of their customs/traditions but he does well.  The Natives send their children to the white man schools to be educated.  They are quickly forgetting their native tongue and the old stories.  They are "Americanized" if you will.  It's really kind of sad to see this happening.

Mark, the vicar, finds himself letting go of the white mans traditions and ways of thinking.  He can see the changes coming in the tribes he serves and it saddens him.  It didn't have the ending that I expected but it was a good one nevertheless.