Thomas H. Cash

Ghost Dance Thomas H. Cash

Chattanooga and the mountains of southeast Tennessee is where it all happens. Gus, half German, half Cherokee but mostly Indian, tells what happens. The girl he meets and falls in love with has a trace of Irish but mostly Sioux and Ojibwa blood. Their career objectives seem to be on a collision course. Not quite trusting the other does not prevent bonding, however, and together they find blood much thicker than water. Gus has a fondness for high-end foreign sports cars but is disinclined to buy them. He just drives them away without owners' permissions. Peg suspects he does this but cannot be sure. Two friends who live high in the Smoky Mountains overlook all character flaws and non-Indian blood and share with Gus and Peg their ancestors' ghosts and primeval customs. They also establish customs of their own. One Feather is all Cherokee. We are not sure about Little Bird. Is she Indian? Gus and Peg have brushes with murderers and drug traffickers. Gus stumbles onto oodles of money. True friends, One Feather and Little Bird help with the money. Despite scrutiny by federal agencies and other dangerous characters, Gus does not alter his life style. Although buffalo have not returned nor white man disappeared, Gus and Peg persist in doing their version of the Ghost Dance.