Citizens Creek
The history between the Indian population and black people throughout the 1800s is a little-known one, but it is one that had a significant impact on American history. Like Tademy’s previous two novels, Cane River and Red River, Citizens Creek is painstakingly researched and serves to inform as well as entertain.
The story follows the parallel lives of Cow Tom and his daughter, Rose. Cow Tom (called that because of his innate understanding of cattle), a black man, was born into slavery. His master is Alabama Creek Chief Yargee, a Creek Indian. Because of his gift for languages, Cow Tom proves to be quite useful in negotiations with slaveholders and later, with white politicians; consequently, his master sends him to help in the Seminole War during the time of Indian Removal.
Nothing is more important to Cow Tom, though, than his family – his mother, Bella, was sold from Yargee’s plantation, and he makes it his life’s mission to find her. He has a loving relationship with his wife, Amy, and later, a special relationship with his granddaughter, Rose. In fact, his ultimate goal is to buy his freedom for his whole family. After a long and eventful life fighting for freedom, on his deathbed, Cow Tom shares his secret stories with Rose, extracting a sworn promise from her that she will never tell the rest of the family about some of the shameful things that he did in his life.
The second half of the book, with its focus on Rose and her family life, is a more enjoyable read as it delves more deeply into Rose’s mindset and explores her very complicated relationship with her sister. At the heart of the book, though, is a universal message about perseverance, about the burdens of family history, about identity, and about the unbreakable bonds of family.
