Wigwam Evenings
By: Charles Eastman, Elaine Goddale Eastman / Narrated By: Walter Covell, Cindy Hardin Killavey
Length: 2 hrs and 17 mins
Only 2 hours and 17 minutes? Boooooooo! I want more!!!
First off, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to even finish Wigwam Evenings cuz it opens with narrator Cindy Hardin Killavey, and boy is she kinda screeeeechy, or what? I dunno exactly what it was—it’s not like her pitch was off—but her tones just had my ears hurting. Two hours of this, thought I? Uhm, nooooo….
But then her little children settle down to listen to stories from their elder, and narrator Walter Covell takes over.
Oh. thank. GOSH! And what a wonderful narrator he is!!! The man sounds like everybody’s much-loved grandfather, and he really throws his heart and soul into each story. Wigwam Evenings is over 20 tales told to youngsters over the colder winter months as all are keeping warm and to keep time until it’s time for all to break camp for the spring. It opens with “The Buffalo and the Field-Mouse” where the mighty are taken down by the small, yes, but the proud are taken down by being tooooo proud. All of these tales come with a lesson for little ones to take heed of, and most of them are to prepare them to be good and honorable people as they grow up.
It’s verrrrrry reminiscent of Aesop’s Fables in that animals are given personalities and dilemmas, and there are morals to be had. But these feature the ways of Nature so often, of being in harmony with the earth and with the night sky. My favorite was “The Girl Who Married the Star” and that’s saying a lot because I truly loved each one. Whether it was bear clans breaking camp to go A-Laughing, or it was a beautiful princess taking care of an evil glutton disguised as a baby (And that one was just a triiiiiiifle harrowing, quite a bit for the ears of little ones!), these are tales you can listen to an evening at a time, or if you’re like me and you flunked The Marshmallow Test, you can listen and enjoy all at one sitting.
Charles Eastman was known for being born and raised Santee Dakota, I believe, grew up in a tribal setting, but he later went to college and became a doctor at Boston University. And what a truly wonderful writer he became! His writing calls to mind chilly nights, a warm circle of families, excited children, and a magical storyteller.
Such a very short Listen, but oh soooo good.
And what can I say? The further I got into listening to all of these, enraptured and delighted, even Killavey’s voice stopped KILLING me, and I was just like the youngsters she was giving voice to: I wanted to hear more!!!
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