Welcome, Paty!
Peggy, Thank you for having me here today.
Here is some insight into being a Nez Perce woman in the 17
and 1800's I learned while researching for my Spirit trilogy set among the Nez
Perce(Nimiipuu).
The children of Nez Perce families were taught by their
grandparents. The grandfathers taught the boys how to make weapons, hunt, fish,
track, and fight. Grandmothers taught the girls how to take care of their
families, do the chores, and help their men. The elders passed down the stories
of the trickster coyote and how "The People" came to be. By reading
books of their legends you see how the legends taught the children basic truths
about life and how to conduct themselves to be good Nez Perce.
Grandmothers also taught the girls about the coming of age
and were by their sides during marriages and the births. When a girl began her
menstrual cycle she would stay in the menstrual lodge for the duration of her
bleeding. They believed the women carried strong powers during this time and
were susceptible to getting pregnant.
This isolation served a purpose. They held private
discussions about personal problems and conditions of health, exchanged views
on herbal medicine, and composed songs. They cooked their own meals in the
lodge and did not touch anything outside nor could they attend any ceremonies
during this time.
They used buffalo hides with the fur still on for
menstruation pads or buckskin and milkweed. The pads were put in a hole in the
middle of the dwelling and buried.
After puberty girls were no longer allowed to play with boys
and stayed in a lodge with their grandmothers and aunts who taught them the
ways of women.
To help make the premise work for my heroine in Spirit
of the Mountain, she is the daughter of the chief and is allowed to
live with her parents even after she is of age to be in the women’s lodge.
This information also was helpful for the second book, Spirit
of the Lake, as the heroine in that book was attacked by a Whiteman and
became pregnant. This is a case where the information I gathered for one book
worked for the second as well.
The third book, Spirit of the Sky, required more research on
the army chasing the Nez Perce and about how they(the Nimiipuu) survived along
the route.
Blurb and Excerpt for Spirit of
the Mountain.
Wren, the daughter of a Nimiipuu chief, has been fated to
save her people ever since her vision quest. When a warrior from the enemy
Blackleg tribe asks for her hand in marriage to bring peace between the tribes,
her world is torn apart.
Himiin is the spirit of the mountain, custodian to all
creatures including the Nimiipuu. As a white wolf he listens to
Wren’s secret fears and loses his heart to the mortal maiden. Respecting
her people’s beliefs, he cannot prevent her leaving the mountain with the
Blackleg warrior.
When an evil spirit threatens Wren’s life, Himiin must leave
the mountain to save her. But to leave the mountain means he’ll
turn to smoke…
Excerpt
Wren’s eyes glistened with unshed
tears. “My gift is to save The People. The weyekin who came to me in my vision
quest said this.” She wrapped her arms around herself as if staving off a cold
breeze.
Himiin hated that they argued when
they should relish their time together. He moved to her, drawing her against
his chest, embracing her. The shape of her body molded to his. Her curves
pressed against him. Holding her this way flamed the need he’d tried to
suppress.
He placed a hand under her chin,
raising her face to his. The sorrow in her eyes tugged at his conscience. To
make her leaving any harder was wrong. But having experienced her in his arms,
he was grieved to let her go. Even for the sake of their people.
Her eyelids fluttered closed. Her
pulse quickened under his fingers. Shrugging off the consequences, he lowered
his lips to hers. They were softer than he imagined. Her breath hitched as he
touched her intimately. Parting his lips, he touched her with his tongue,
wanting to see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled.
Honey.
She tasted of sweet honey straight
from the bosom of a bee tree.
One taste was not enough. He pulled
her closer, moving his lips across hers, tasting and savoring the feel of them.
Her mouth opened and she sighed.
His body came to life. The sensations
transcended anything he’d experienced before. How could one woman make him feel
powerful and vulnerable at the same time? Why did he wish to crush her to him
and never let go and yet feel compelled to treat her with the tenderness
one would give the tiniest of creatures? He couldn’t
continue this way.
To hold her, to touch her soft
skin. He would never be able to let her go.
He
must.
He released Wren and stepped back,
avoiding her eyes. How could he show her the sensations she brought to him then
turn around and tell her they couldn’t see one another anymore?
This spirit trilogy is my proverbial book of my heart. I
spent countless hours on research to make sure the Nez Perce culture is correct
in the books and the historical information is accurate.
Bio: Wife,
mother, grandmother, and the one who cleans pens and delivers the hay; award
winning author Paty Jager and her husband currently farm 350 acres when not
dashing around visiting their children and grandchildren. She not only writes
the western lifestyle, she lives it.
Paty is a member of RWA, EPIC, and COWG. Wild Rose Press has
published nine of her books. Spirit of
the Mountain won the Lorie Award for Best Paranormal. Spirit of the Lake was a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of
Excellence contest. Perfectly Good Nanny, won the 2008 EPPIE for Best Contemporary
Romance.
You can learn more about her at her blog; www.patyjager.blogspot.com her website; http://www.patyjager.net or on Facebook.
Thank you for having me here today, Peggy!
ReplyDeleteThank you Paty, for writing the Spirit Trilogy. I have them all on my Kindle ready to start reading soon. I love the story of the people's ways and lifestyle. We all could learn from them today.
ReplyDeleteHi Shirl, Thank you for purchasing the trilogy. If you like them please leave a review or ranking at the site that sells the books. I agree about learning from the Native Americans. We talk about going green they were in every sense.
ReplyDeleteLovely interview. Congratulations on your books.
ReplyDeleteHi Ella, Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love the fascinating historical and cultural details you included in these books, Paty! Great excerpt!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! Thanks, I enjoy researching and passing along what I find.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations - These look great!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa!
ReplyDeletePaty, great post, beautiful covers, and your excerpt sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeletePaty-Your posts are always fun to follow and I never tire of seeing your book covers. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteL.B., Thank you. The cover artists did a great job on these covers.
ReplyDeleteHi MK! Thank you! I try to make the posts interesting and I agree about the covers. I love them, too!