Charlie Shapwaykeesic

Bill Walton
Cover art by Allen Angeconeb

6 X 9 inches, 128 pages

MEET SHAMAN AND STORYTELLER for a community of Cree people living in the modern fictional village of Ombabika on the north shore of Lake Nipigon in Northwestern Ontario. Meet Charlie Shapwaykeesic (Shap-way-key-zick). Through his stories, Charlie reincarnates a succession of Shaman ancestors, tracing the history of his people from the time before the arrival of the white men to the present. In the midst of the relentless erosion of Cree traditions under the pressure of white society, Charlie brings a vision for the future, and an awareness that native values have real significance for the modern world. The wisdom of the past provides Charlie with solutions to everyday problems, yet, when tragedy strikes, the Shaman has no easy explanations for the death of Al Matabanic or of his own nephew, Eddie.

W. W. (Bill) Walton

Author

Bill Walton is the Manager of Information Systems for the City of North Bay. An avid 'catch and release' fisherman, Bill spends as much time as possible enjoying the lakes and forests of northern Ontario. His previous publications include two books of short stories, Kawigamog: Pickerel River Tales and The 5:15 Gang. Bill, with his father, has also published The Steamer Kawigamog, the history of an inland water steamboat owned and operated by his grandfather, William Ambrose Walton.