![]() ![]() ![]() The story is full of well developed characters. Their treatment at the hands of the Americans is painful reading their callous exploitation and mocking of the tribe is starkly portrayed and is all the more poignant for being seen through the puzzled eyes of Samkad. Candy Gourlay has skilfully blended history and narrative to create a fascinating, compelling story which respectfully explores the traditions and beliefs of the people of Bontok. I am ashamed to admit that I knew nothing of the Philippine-American War before reading Bone Talk, nor of the people of the Cordilleras. As more Americans appear, things for Samkad and his tribe will never be the same again. When he returns, he brings with him a strange white man, an American with different ways and different ideas. The manhood ritual he has been eagerly awaiting goes wrong, leaving him confused, and his father leaves the village to locate family Samkad barely knows. But soon Samkad's life is turned upside down. ![]() He is desperate to play his part in keeping the tribe safe from their enemy, the head-hunting Mangili, even if it means he will no longer be able to enjoy a good scrap with his friend, a girl called Little Luki. Now he is about the have the Cut and become a man. Living high in the mountains of the Philippines in 1899, Samkad's world is his tribe, his village. ![]()
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