First North Americans (novels)
Encyclopedia
The First North Americans are a series of historical fiction
novels published by Tor
and written by husband and wife co-authors W. Michael Gear
& Kathleen O'Neal Gear
. The series, which began with 1990's "People of the Wolf
," explores various civilizations and cultures in prehistoric North America. It is comparable to Jean M. Auel's
"Earth's Children
" series, set in prehistoric Europe
, but each of its books focuses on a different time period, location, and set of characters. The first four novels form a coherent, more or less linear narrative, from the initial migration of Siberia
n peoples into what is now Canada
and Alaska
(People of the Wolf
) through the florescence of the Mississippian semi-urban mound-building culture, considered the "high-water mark" of North American pre-Columbian civilization, around 1000 AD. The remaining novels cover a wide variety of times and settings, in no particular order, ranging from tropical Florida in the 6th millennium BC to the Chaco Empire of the Southwest in the 13th century AD. The novels take into account new developments in North American archaeology
such as the discovery of Kennewick Man
and the development of the coastal-route model as a possible alternative or supplement to overland migration across Beringia.
The novels generally have a prologue set in modern times, in which archaeologists
or others discover ancient artifacts and other remnants of prehistoric North American civilization. The main body of the novel then details the individual lives of those who left the artifacts behind. Although generally well regarded for their accuracy and attention to detail (both of the writers are professional archaeologists) the novels usually contain mystic elements, focusing on shamanistic visions. Protagonists of early novels sometimes appear as dream guides or figures of legend in subsequent volumes.
According to the author's website, future titles in the "People" series will include novels dealing with the Pacific Northwest in British Columbia
; the high cultures of the Southeast, including Moundville, Alabama
, and Etowa, Georgia; the Hohokam
in southern Arizona; the Mimbres in New Mexico
; and the Salado
in the Salt River
basin.
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
novels published by Tor
Tor Books
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
and written by husband and wife co-authors W. Michael Gear
W. Michael Gear
W. Michael Gear is an American writer, and archaeologist born in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 20, 1955. He is perhaps best known for his First North Americans series, co-authored with wife Kathleen O'Neal Gear.-Biography:...
& Kathleen O'Neal Gear
Kathleen O'Neal Gear
Kathleen O'Neal Gear is an American writer. Gear is a former state historian and archaeologist for Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska for the U.S. Department of the Interior. She has twice received the federal government's Special Advancement Award for "outstanding management" of our nation's cultural...
. The series, which began with 1990's "People of the Wolf
People of the Wolf
People of the Wolf is a 1990 historical fiction novel by husband and wife co-authors W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The story explores the migration of humans into pre-historic North America. It is the first book in The First North Americans series....
," explores various civilizations and cultures in prehistoric North America. It is comparable to Jean M. Auel's
Jean M. Auel
Jean Marie Auel is an American writer. She is best known for her Earth's Children books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals...
"Earth's Children
Earth's Children
Earth's Children is a series of speculative alternative historical fiction novels written by Jean M. Auel set circa 30,000 years before present. There are six novels in the series...
" series, set in prehistoric Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, but each of its books focuses on a different time period, location, and set of characters. The first four novels form a coherent, more or less linear narrative, from the initial migration of Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n peoples into what is now Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
(People of the Wolf
People of the Wolf
People of the Wolf is a 1990 historical fiction novel by husband and wife co-authors W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The story explores the migration of humans into pre-historic North America. It is the first book in The First North Americans series....
) through the florescence of the Mississippian semi-urban mound-building culture, considered the "high-water mark" of North American pre-Columbian civilization, around 1000 AD. The remaining novels cover a wide variety of times and settings, in no particular order, ranging from tropical Florida in the 6th millennium BC to the Chaco Empire of the Southwest in the 13th century AD. The novels take into account new developments in North American archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
such as the discovery of Kennewick Man
Kennewick Man
Kennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, USA, on July 28, 1996...
and the development of the coastal-route model as a possible alternative or supplement to overland migration across Beringia.
The novels generally have a prologue set in modern times, in which archaeologists
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
or others discover ancient artifacts and other remnants of prehistoric North American civilization. The main body of the novel then details the individual lives of those who left the artifacts behind. Although generally well regarded for their accuracy and attention to detail (both of the writers are professional archaeologists) the novels usually contain mystic elements, focusing on shamanistic visions. Protagonists of early novels sometimes appear as dream guides or figures of legend in subsequent volumes.
According to the author's website, future titles in the "People" series will include novels dealing with the Pacific Northwest in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
; the high cultures of the Southeast, including Moundville, Alabama
Moundville, Alabama
Moundville is a town in Hale and Tuscaloosa Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2000 census the population was 1,809. It is part of the Tuscaloosa Metropolitan Statistical Area. Moundville is known for its quintessential southern landscapes and Indian Mounds.-Geography:Moundville is...
, and Etowa, Georgia; the Hohokam
Hohokam
Hohokam is one of the four major prehistoric archaeological Oasisamerica traditions of what is now the American Southwest. Many local residents put the accent on the first syllable . Variant spellings in current, official usage include Hobokam, Huhugam and Huhukam...
in southern Arizona; the Mimbres in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
; and the Salado
Salado culture
Salado culture, or Salado Horizon, was a human culture of the Tonto Basin in southeastern Arizona from approximately 1150 CE through the 15th century....
in the Salt River
Salt River (Arizona)
The Salt River is a stream in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about long. Its drainage basin is about large. The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the Verde River...
basin.
List of Novels
- People of the WolfPeople of the WolfPeople of the Wolf is a 1990 historical fiction novel by husband and wife co-authors W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The story explores the migration of humans into pre-historic North America. It is the first book in The First North Americans series....
(1990)--the initial migration of Siberian hunters across Beringia and into AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
(13000 BC) - People of the FirePeople of the FirePeople of the Fire is a 1991 historical fiction novel written by husband-and-wife co-authors W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear. It dramatizes the transition of Native American culture from Paleo-Indian to Archaic as a result of climatic warming, set in the High Plains and Western Rockies region...
(1990)--the transition of Native American culture from Paleo-Indian to Archaic, as a result of sudden climactic warming, in the High PlainsHigh Plains (United States)The High Plains are a subregion of the Great Plains mostly in the Western United States, but also partly in the Midwest states of Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota, generally encompassing the western part of the Great Plains before the region reaches the Rocky Mountains...
and Western Rockies region (8000 BC) - People of the EarthPeople of the EarthPeople of the Earth is set in the plains and basins region of North America, c 5000 bc. It is the third book in The First North Americans series.-Main characters:White AshBad Belly/ Still WaterWind RunnerBrave Man...
(1992)--Plains and Basins region (5000 BC) - People of the RiverPeople of the RiverPeople of the River is the fourth novel in The First North Americans series. It dramatizes the story of the mound-building Cahokia empire on the Mississippi River....
(1992)--the mound-building CahokiaCahokiaCahokia Mounds State Historic Site is the area of an ancient indigenous city located in the American Bottom floodplain, between East Saint Louis and Collinsville in south-western Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. The site included 120 human-built earthwork mounds...
empire on the MississippiMississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
River (1200 AD) - People of the SeaPeople of the SeaPeople of the Sea dramatizes the initial development of the California Native American culture and the imminent extinction of mammoths and mastodons as a result of climatic warming circa 8000 bc. It is the fifth book in The First North Americans series...
(1993)--the initial development of California Native American culture, as a result of climactic warming (8000 BC) - People of the LakesPeople of the LakesPeople of the Lakes is a historical fiction novel by Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear. It is the sixth book in The First North Americans series....
(1994)--the journey of a band of Hopewell Indians across the Great LakesGreat LakesThe Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
(100 AD) - People of the Lightning (1995)--the travails of an albino youth in Early Archaic Florida (7000 BC)
- People of the Silence (1996)--the decline of the Chaco Empire (1130 AD)
- People of the Mist (1997)--a murder mystery set among the AlgonquianAlgonquian peoplesThe Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
people of the Chesapeake Bay regionChesapeake BayThe Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
(1200 AD) - People of the Masks (1998)--IroquoisIroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
culture of the WoodlandWoodland periodThe Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures was from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic header for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the...
period (1000 AD) - People of the Owl (2003)--the Poverty PointPoverty PointPoverty Point is a prehistoric earthworks of the Poverty Point culture, now a historic monument located in the Southern United States. It is from the current Mississippi River, and situated on the edge of Maçon Ridge, near the village of Epps in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana.Poverty Point...
semi-urban culture (1500 BC) - People of the Raven (2004)--a speculative fictional account of Kennewick ManKennewick ManKennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, USA, on July 28, 1996...
, an apparent Caucasoid male who lived in the Pacific Northwest (9000 BC) - People of the Moon (2005)--the collapse of the Chaco Empire frontier of the Southwest (1150 AD), from the perspective of a subject people in what is now southern Colorado
- People of the Nightland (2007)--the melting of the glaciers in southeen Ontario (13,000BC)
- People of the Weeping Eye (2008)--the mound-building culture around Moundville, AlabamaMoundville, AlabamaMoundville is a town in Hale and Tuscaloosa Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2000 census the population was 1,809. It is part of the Tuscaloosa Metropolitan Statistical Area. Moundville is known for its quintessential southern landscapes and Indian Mounds.-Geography:Moundville is...
(1200 AD) - People of the Thunder (2009)--concludes the story begun in People of the Weeping Eye
- People of the Longhouse (2010)--conflict within the IroquoisIroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
nation (1400 AD)
Timeline
- People of the Wolf
- People of the Nightland
- People of the Sea
- People of the Raven
- People of the Lightning
- People of the Fire
- People of the Earth
- People of the Owl
- People of the Lakes
- People of the River
- People of the Silence
- People of the Moon
- People of the Masks
- People of the Weeping Eye/People of the Thunder
- People of the Mist
- People of the Longhouse
Recurring Terms
- Dreamer: When capitalized ("Dreamer" instead of "dreamer"), refers to a shaman, or one who possesses the talent for shamanic visions.
- Dream: Also called a Power Dream, refers to a shamanic vision (differentiated from ordinary REM sleep by means of capitalization).
- Power: When capitalized, refers to things in and of the spirit world, magic, Dreaming, etc.
- dart: A spear launched by means of an atlatlAtlatlAn atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...
, in common use prior to the invention of the bow and arrow in North America. "War darts" are darts intended specifically for killing humans in war-time, as opposed to buffalo or mammoths or other prey animals of ancient North America. - Wolf Dreamer/First Man: The main protagonist of the first book, who becomes a figure of legend in subsequent books. The further "ahead" the books go, the more the alteration effect of oral history becomes apparent.
- First Woman: Though her name is never mentioned, it is assumed that her true name is Heron, who helped Wolf Dreamer in the first novel. She appears in subsequent novels as a loner spirit who lives in a cave, fickle.
- the One: Refers to the belief that all life is one life, but viewed from many perspectives. To touch the One is a state of ZenZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
-like self-transcendence where a Dreamer is at his or her most Powerful.