BIBLIOGRAPHY
Tingle, Tim. 2006. Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom. Ill. Jeanne Rorex Bridges. El Paso: Cinco Puntos Press. ISBN 9780938317777

PLOT SUMMARY-This Choctaw tale accounts the unlikely friendship between a young Choctaw girl, Martha Tom and “Little Mo”, a young child of a slave. This “by chance” friendship was the result of Martha Tom being sent on a journey to collect blackberries for her mother. This quest resulted in Martha crossing the forbidden Bok Chitto River that separated the Choctaw tribe and the southern plantation owners. One side was freedom and the other shore represented the cruel life of slavery. It was on this quest where she became lost because her guiding sun was blocked by the clouds. Her journey seemed pre-destined “like spirit voices, whispering” to her and connecting Martha Tom with “Little Mo” and his family. This was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

Little Mo soon learned that his mother was to be sold and an escape plan was hatched to cross the Bok Chitto River to freedom. Little Mo had never crossed the river at night and in desperation turns to young Martha Tom and her tribe for help in their escape to freedom.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This story is set in rural Mississippi , “in the days before the War between the States, in the days before the Trial of Tears” near a river that represents a boundary of two vary different ways of life. Tim Tingle does a remarkable job helping the readers understand that one side represented freedom, while the other side represented the unbearable life of slaves. The peaceful Choctaw tribe seemed to understand what this river stood for and quietly built a secret stone path that helped in the crossing of the Bok Chitto River.
Tim Tingle’s Choctaw tale is filled with cultural markers, for example he describes the two circles of the wedding ceremony where the Choctaw women wore “cotton dresses that skimmed the ground and their long shiny black hair fell well below their waists”. He draws the reader in further by having the elders chant their Choctaw wedding song:

“Way, hey ya hey ya”
“You a hey you ay”
“A hey ya a hey ya!”

Tingle also highlights many similarities between the Choctaw and African-American slaves. He expresses the importance of religion to the slave families as Martha encounters the “forbidden slave church” as hundreds of slaves seem to appear from within the trees and sing. “Martha had never heard music like this before, but it touched her deeply”. This importance of religious ceremonies is also shared among the Choctaw tribe and “Little Mo” could hear “the sound of chanting, he thought it must be the heartbeat of the earth” but it was the elders of the tribe calling the Choctaw to a wedding ceremony.

Jeanne Rorex Bridges’ acrylic painting draws the readers into the story. Her scenes of the “forbidden slave church” empty and then filled on the next page- conveys magical images to the readers. The character’s skin tones and cultural markers jump off the page as if the characters were real. Just maybe a reader could be lucky enough to imagine wiping a tear from “Little Mo” or feel the mist from the river. Her paintings are mystical; readers will enjoy watching Little Mo’s family disappear right before the plantation owner’s eyes and her illuminating white gowns of the Choctaw women seemingly walking on water.

The author’s note is extensive and speaks to the knowledge of his background.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Booklist- “In a picture book that highlights rarely discussed intersections between Native Americans in the South and African Americans in bondage, a noted Choctaw storyteller and Cherokee artist join forces with stirring results”

Library Media Connections- “Tingle, a superb storyteller, tells a tale of friendship and freedom about the great river, Bok Chitto, that divides two very different worlds prior to the American Civil War.”

Other Books by Tim Tingle:
Tingle, Tim. When Turtle Grew Feathers: A Folktale From the Choctaw Nation. ISBN 9780874837773.
Tingle, Tim. Walking the Choctaw Road. ISBN 9780938317746.