Bonus Material for Audio Book
Map of Ruby and Kaileh’s America
I’ve always loved maps. Maybe studying one makes me feel like I’m flying, viewing the land from above. In creating the map for Ruby and Kaileh’s America, I turned to multiple sources. Historical maps showing the real Proclamation Line, a basic continental map showing rivers and mountain ranges, maps from Tribal Nations Maps, and the fantastic app Native Lands were my primary sources. If you don’t have the app Native Lands, I highly recommend it. Wherever you travel, you can open the app and see who’s land you are standing on. Although we cannot change the past, we can appreciate it. The phone app can be found in your phone’s store. The web app is at: https://native-land.ca/
If you’d like print versions of native lands, you can find a free, downloadable map at:
https://indigamerica.blogspot.com/p/downloads.html . Another source, although not free, (I’ve purchase several beautiful maps from this company) is Tribal Nations Maps: https://www.tribalnationsmaps.com .
Regarding my version, I used both colonial versions of Indigenous names and transliterations of the “real” names. This book is speculative and I had to try to imagine where some of the cultures might be at the time the book takes place. I did my best to honor history too. Please feel free to reach out with suggestions.
Understand this: at the time of colonization there are believed to have been between 900,000 to 18,000,000 native people living in North America speaking 300-500 different languages, and identifying with perhaps 1,000 cultures (or tribes as they are often still called.) Many were wiped out before direct contact with colonists—as diseases travelled rapidly ahead of colonization settlements. Anyway, the takeaway is that who knows how these cultures would have meshed and merged and even remerged had interference not been so extreme.
Please, let us all honor that truth.
Fact and Fiction List for The Binding
Agiqua River. Fact: Cherokee name for the French Broad River in North Carolina.
Apserkahar. Fact: Takelma leader (died 1854) known by Whites as Chief Jo and other names. Had close ties to the Shastas and Athapaskans. Along with his brother, Toquahear, and his wife tried to navigate the growing incursions of colonists and gold seekers into Oregon’s Rogue Valley. His children were kidnapped by Territorial Governor Joseph Land in 1853 and were used to force the signing of the Table Rock Treaty. (Which included the land the author was raised and now lives on.) A final battle in 1855 lead to the survivors forced removal far from their native lands. Fiction: That battle was won by Apserkahar.
Apserkahar Creek. Fiction: My name for what is known as Evans Creek, a 35-mile-long tributary to the Rogue River (Takel River in the book). Davis (Coyote) Evans established the first ferry near the mouth of Evans Creek in 1851.
Black Brethren. Fact. Early Mennonite community in Junaluska (part of the town of Boone), North Carolina settled in the 1800s by African American practitioners.
Chalagawtha. Fact: From the Shawnee people’s name for their original settlement cha-la-gaw-tha, meaning principal town. Now called Chillicothe, Ohio. It was the birthplace of Tenskawata, a prophet and younger brother of the great Shawnee leader, Tecumseh. Chillicothe was also an important stop along the underground railroad. It is the location of a tremendous number of Hopewell and Adena earthworks that still survive today.
Chota (also EChota). Fact: Was a long established Native American (Cherokee) town south of present-day Knoxville, Tennessee. Site was flooded by the building of the contentious Tellico Dam in 1979. The dam also flooded other communities such as Toqua and Tanasi. In this same area, the great creator of the Cherokee syllabary, Sequoyah, was born.
Elohi Monastics. Fiction: I combined the Cherokee word for “earth” and Hebrew word for “divine” for this fictitious order of service.
Warrior Service. Fiction: Inspired by the Redstick warriors, a large group of traditionalist Creek (Muscogee) that supported the great leader Tecumseh’s desire to keep their cultures intact.
Fort Pitt. Fact: British stronghold built between 1759 and 1761 to oppose the French and native forces during the “French and Indian War” also known in Europe as the “Seven Years War”
Gap Creek. Fact: Really Flaugherty creek in Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Giiwas, jhee-u-wos. Fact: native name for the mountain that formed Crater Lake, in southern Oregon. The often-heard name, Mount Mazama, is not native, but given by a white explorer in the 1800’s who wanted to name it after his own group of explorers.
Great Gathering. Fictional name for The Newark Earthworks, most of which have been destroyed for development, but are still worth visiting!
Headwaters Island. Fictional name for Brunot Island, located just downriver from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Headwaters Mound. Fictional name for McKees Rock Mound, the site, now a construction/industrial site, has been mostly destroyed and decimated. As of writing, the remains of at least 33 Hopewell and Adena ancestors are somewhere in storage under the control of the Carnegie Museum.
Jah’gowa. Fact: Onöndowa’ga (Seneca) name for what the Europeans called the Passenger Pigeon. Species went from numbering in the millions (the most abundant bird in North America) to extinct. The last one died in 1914 in captivity. Was an important and purposefully maintained food source for indigenous peoples, particularly in the Northern and Southern Woodland regions.
Junaluska. Fact: For place, see Black Brethren. Actual Cherokee leader (1775-1868). Initially supported the war efforts of Andrew Jackson, even saving his life in the War of 1812. Later in life regretted his part in assisting the whites.
Ki-He-Kah-Stah-Tsa, Elizabeth kee-hay-kah-stah-tsa . Fact: Osage family name of Elizabeth Marie (Maria) Tallchief, 1925-2013. She is considered by many to be the US’s first prima ballerina for the newly founded New York City Ballet and George Balanchine.
Klamath. Fact: Indigenous people of Oregon and Northern California. Tribal group now includes other local peoples including the Modoc, and Yahooskin.
Klikitat, klick-ih-tet. Fact: Native culture of the Pacific Northwest. Some Klikitats were used by General Joseph Lane (Oregon’s Territorial Governor) to fight the Takelma under Leader Apsekahar. Fiction: In this story, the Takelma and Klikitat were allies.
Kudzu. Fact: Native to East Asia and brought to the US in 1878 and later used to stop soil erosion. Has multiple potential uses as animal feed and human food. Considered highly invasive.
Lappites. Fiction: A branch of anabaptists founded by Marvin Lapp that espoused defensive violence.
Lenape, leh-nuh-pee. Fact: Lenni Lenape. Native American people referred to as Delawares by the colonists. Completely displaced early during colonization. Fiction: City in the Northern Woodlands region, the United West, so named to honor the people who lost their homelands and lives to the colonists.
Little Yok-i-gay-nee. Fact: Really Casselman Creek, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Marlburg Tobacco. Fact: Marlburg Brothers Tobacco Co. operated out of Baltimore Maryland in the late 1800s.
Mexica. Fact: Indigenous people of Mexico who ruled the Aztec Empire.
Mexico’s borders on map. Fact: The land held by Mexico in this story was originally within the Republic of Mexico’s borders.
Monongahela River. Fact: Lenape for “falling-in-banks”
Nemisis Peak. Fiction: Really mount Steeprock, but there was a black man known as Nemisis who died in battle there, so I renamed it.
Neolin. Fact: A prophet of the Lenni Lenape (Delaware Indians) who was inspired by a vision in 1761 and preached returning to traditional values.
Nippon. Fact: Or Nihon, Japanese name for their country. The word “Japan” is based on Chinese pronunciations and came into use with European trade.
Noto. Fact: Japanese word for “note” also short for notebook. In this book, used instead of laptops and personal computers.
Nuevo Tenochtitlan, tuh-nowch-teet-laan. Fictional: Based on fact: The rebuilt canal city of Tenochtitlan, at its peak the largest city in the Americas, which was destroyed by the Spanish invader Cortes in the early 1500’s in order to build the Spanish Capital of Mexico City.
Ohi-yo River, oh-hee-yo. Fact: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Ohi:yo’, name, meaning Good River, for the Ohio River.
Pontiac, Chief . Fact: Odawa (Ottawa) leader (1714/20 – 1769) war leader who tried to unite the cultures against the British during the Seven Years war (also known as the French Indian war).
Proclamation Line. Fact: Created as described in book and in the Treaty of Paris. Fiction: Continues to exist as the border between the New England States (NES) and the United First Nations (UFN)
Puzzi-la-nee parrots. Fact: puzzi la née (“head of yellow”) also known as pot pot chee by the Seminole and kelinky in Chickasaw. Known by the colonists as the Carolina parakeet or conure. Now an extinct species formally indigenous to North America. Last bird died in 1918 (almost the same year as the last passenger, jah’gowa, pigeon). Extinction due to human encroachment on habitat, hunting, and destruction by farmers due to crop losses.
Reo Cars. Fact: REO motor company was based in Lansing, Michigan and produced cars and trucks from 1905 to 1975. Founded by Ransom E. Olds (of Oldsmobile fame.) In this story, it was located instead in New York.
Royal Proclamation of 1763. Fact
Salish Sea, say-lish. Fact: Current name for the body of water most recently known in our world as the Puget Sound, Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Honors the native people of the vast area rather than European explorers.
Serpent Mound. Fact: Largest (at 1,348 ft/411m) existing effigy mound in the world. In Ohio. Built by the Adena (a European coined term) around 320 BCE. Repaired or augmented by the Fort Ancient (another non-native term) people around 1100 CE.
Shelter Rocks. Fact: Ancient shelters once located near the town of Myersdale, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania (where I placed the Enclave). They were destroyed for highway construction.
Takel, tuh-kel. Fact: Native American name for the Rogue River, located in southern Oregon.
Takelma. Fact: Native American people (also Dagelma) living in what is now called Oregon. The last of this culture was marched to a distant reservation during the winter of 1856.
Tanasi. Fact: Cherokee word that colonist translated to Tennessee
Tenskwatawa tenz-kwu-·ta-wuh. Fact: Also known as the Prophet or the Shawnee Prophet (1775-1836) A younger brother of the leader, Tecumseh. In the early 1800s he encouraged avoiding alcohol and traditional ways similar to the Prophet Neolin (see listing) in the previous century.
Tomochichi, to-mo-chee-chee, Fiction: Port and city where present day Savanah, Georgia exists. Real name of former Muskogee leader who founded a separate, British supporting, culture called the Yamacraw. Lived in the early/mid 1700’s.
Trabajadoras. Fiction: Spanish for worker. My term for worker bee “drones”.
Waccamaw, waah-cuh-maw. Fact: Native people living and farming in what became South Carolina. Fiction: A border outpost in the book, located where present-day Asheville, North Carolina is.
Werowocomoco, wehro-woco-mo-co. Fact: Village that served as the headquarters for Chief Powhatan and the Powhatan confederacy.
Yok-i-gay-nee river yok-ə-gay-nee. Fact: My phonetic spelling of the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania. Algonquin word translates “contrary river” for the fact that it flows north before joining the Ohio River and heading south.
Zhongguo. Fact: Mandarin word for China. In this book, China is a powerful ally of the United West.
Acknowledgments
When I started this book in 2018 (for the now mostly defunct, but trying to rise from the ashes, NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month) I had no idea how many people would help bring me forward in craft and in confidence—and not just individuals, but uncounted online courses, websites, blogs, books, videos, and on and on.
From the beginning, I have been nervous about my “right” to tell a story that is, in great part, not my own—despite that being what writers, for the most part, do. Yet I absolutely couldn’t live with NOT at least trying to bring this “world that could have been” to life. To that end, I researched as if for historical fiction; read and watched courses on the thoughtful, sensitive, respectful telling of other cultures stories; and reached out to a diverse set of readers (names also included below) including Matt Patterson-Muir, Stacey Parshall Jensen, Virginia Johnson, and Elizabeth Bryant. Thanks to this feedback, over the six years I wrote at least 15 versions of this book. Whether the one in your hands now is the best, who knows?
Now for the complete (I hope!) list:
Early readers: Tami Parr, Maud Powell, Rachael Shinn, Jonathan Koven, Matt Patterson-Muir, Jessca Posey, Stacey Parshall Jensen (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Black), Virginia Johnson (Lakota), and Susan Defreitas.
Midpoint readers: Blackstone Publishing, Danna Gibson, Amelia Caldwell (dear daughter),Tami Parr (again), Gabrielle Hahn, Meridith Leigh, Kirsten Shockey, Christopher Shockey, Sandra Phoenix, and Cara (Carol) Stevenson.
Later readers: Gabrielle Hahn (again, bless her), Patricia Florin, Joe Hall, Amy Collins, Allison Martine Hubbard, and Kenneth Zink (my amazing editor).
Other valuable insights: Julie Kingsley (Manuscript Academy), Amy McAnlis, the Talent Writers Group (including Dorothy Vogel, Patricia Florin, Francis Xavier McCarthy, Ellen Gardner, Sandra Phoenix, Deborah Rothschild, and Marilyn Joy).
A special thanks to Elizabeth Bryant of the Cow Creek Band of Indians, and a teacher of the all-but-lost language of the Takelma, for both reading the manuscript and providing a pronunciation guide to the Takelma words and phrases included in the book. Other assistance came from Noah Martin Shadlow, language teacher, Osage Nation.
I’m so lucky to have found the amazingly gifted and talented D’ella Rayne to perform/narrate the audio version of the book. As a big consumer of audiobooks myself, finding the right voice was critical. I also wanted a human that represented cultural and racial diversity, simply because it’s important to me and the message of this novel. I hope you all enjoy D’ella’s performance!
I also want to thank the large group of writers with whom I’ve found an online community. Whether through a private Discord group I started or Bluesky Social or my regional chapter of Willamette Writers, the support and comradery of such groups is irreplaceable. If you’re just getting started on your writing journey, find your people!
When, after about 40 rejections and two years of trying, I got an agent in 2023 I was over the moon. But a year later, I made the decision to pull the plug. My mom, my biggest cheerleader, who broke my heart by leaving this plane in the summer of 2023, always said I was born feet first (I was breach) and running from the start. She also said I was a know-it-all! Being in the agent/client position put me in a frustratingly blind-spot. Taking on the indie approach, keeps my feet on the ground and moving forward.