''North America's Forgotten Past'' (occasionally called "''First North Americans''") is a series of

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

novels published by

Tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Toronto, Canada ** Toronto Raptors * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor ...

and written by husband and wife co-authors

W. Michael Gear William Michael Gear, better known as W. Michael Gear, (born May 20, 1955) is an American writer and archaeologist. He is the author of North America's Forgotten Past series, co-written with his wife Kathleen O'Neal Gear. His novels have been p ...

and

Kathleen O'Neal Gear Kathleen O'Neal Gear (born 1954) is an American archaeologist, historian, author. Her novels have been published in 29 languages. Biography Gear was born in Tulare, California, and graduated with a B.A. from California State University, Bakersfi ...

. The series, which began with 1990's '' People of the Wolf'', explores various civilizations and cultures in prehistoric North America. It is somewhat comparable to Jean M. Auel's ''

Earth's Children ''Earth's Children'' is a series of epic historical fiction (or more precisely, prehistorical fiction) novels written by Jean M. Auel set circa 30,000 years before the present day. There are six novels in the series. Although Auel had previo ...

'' series, which is set in prehistoric

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, but each of its books focuses on a different time period, location, and set of characters. The first four novels form a coherent, more or less linear narrative, from the initial migration of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

n peoples into what is now

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

( People of the Wolf) through the florescence of the Mississippian semi-urban mound-building culture, considered the "high-water mark" of North American pre-Columbian civilization, around 1000 AD. The remaining novels cover a wide variety of times and settings, most standalone stories in no particular order, ranging from tropical Florida in the 6th millennium BC to the Chaco Empire of the Southwest in the 13th century AD. The novels take into account new developments in North American

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

such as the discovery of

Kennewick Man Kennewick Man or Ancient One was a Native American man who lived during the early Holocene, whose skeletal remains were found in 1996 washed out on a bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. Radiocarbon tests show the man lived a ...

and the development of the coastal-route model as a possible alternative or supplement to overland migration across

Beringia Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 70th parallel north, 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south ...

. The novels generally have a prologue set in modern times, in which

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

or others discover ancient artifacts and other remnants of prehistoric North American civilization. The main body of the novel then details the individual lives of those who left the artifacts behind. Although generally well regarded for their accuracy and attention to detail (both of the writers are professional archaeologists) the novels usually contain mystic elements, focusing on shamanistic visions. Protagonists of early novels sometimes appear as dream guides or figures of legend in subsequent volumes. According to the author's website, future titles in the series will include novels dealing with the Pacific Northwest in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

; the high cultures of the Southeast, including

Moundville, Alabama Moundville is a town in Hale and Tuscaloosa counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The US Census Bureau names it as Moundville town, but the town calls itself the City of Moundville. At the 2020 census the population was 3,024. It is part of ...

, and the

Etowah Indian Mounds Etowah Indian Mounds ( 9BR1) are a archaeological site in Bartow County, Georgia, south of Cartersville. Built and occupied in three phases, from 1000–1550 CE, the prehistoric site is located on the north shore of the Etowah River. Etow ...

, Georgia; the

Hohokam Hohokam was a culture in the Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest, North American Southwest in what is now part of south-central Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 CE, with cultural p ...

in southern Arizona; the Mimbres in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

; and the Salado in the Salt River basin.

Novels in order of publication

* ''People of the Wolf'' (1990) * ''People of the Fire'' (1990) * ''People of the Earth'' (1992) * ''People of the River'' (1992) * ''People of the Sea'' (1993) * ''People of the Lakes'' (1994) * ''People of the Lightning'' (1995) * ''People of the Silence'' (1996) * ''People of the Mist'' (1997) * ''People of the Masks'' (1998) * ''People of the Owl'' (2003) * ''People of the Raven'' (2004) * ''People of the Moon'' (2005) * ''People of the Nightland'' (2007) * ''People of the Weeping Eye'' (2008) * ''People of the Thunder'' (2009) * ''People of the Longhouse'' (2010) *''The Dawn Country'' (2011) *''The Broken Land'' (2012) *''People of the Black Sun'' (2012) *"Copper Falcon" (2014)--short story *''People of the Morning Star'' (2014) *"The Dead Man's Doll" (2015)--short story *''People of the Song Trail'' (2015) *''Sun Born'' (2016) *''Moon Hunt'' (2017) *''Star Path'' (2019) *''People of the Canyons'' (2020) *''Lightning Shell'' (2022)

Novels in historical order

* ''People of the Wolf'' (13,000 BC): The initial migration of Siberian hunters across

and into

. * ''People of the Nightland'' (13,000 BC): The melting of the glaciers in southern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

* ''People of the Raven'' (9,000 BC): A speculative fictional account of

, an apparent

Caucasoid The Caucasian race (also Caucasoid, Europid, or Europoid) is an obsolete racial classification of humans based on a now-disproven theory of biological race. The ''Caucasian race'' was historically regarded as a biological taxon which, dependin ...

male who lived in the Pacific Northwest. * ''People of the Sea'' (8,000 BC): The initial development of California Native American culture, as a result of climatic warming. * ''People of the Fire'' (8,000 BC): The transition of Native American culture from

Paleo-Indian Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...

to Archaic, as a result of sudden climatic warming, in the High Plains and Western Rockies region. * ''People of the Lightning'' (7,000 BC): The travails of an albino youth in Early Archaic Florida. * ''People of the Earth'' (5,000 BC): Plains and Basins region. * ''People of the Owl'' (1,500 BC): The

Poverty Point Poverty Point State Historic Site/Poverty Point National Monument (; 16 WC 5) is a prehistoric earthwork constructed by the Poverty Point culture, located in present-day northeastern Louisiana. Evidence of the Poverty Point culture extends ...

semi-urban culture in the lower Mississippi Valley. * ''People of the Lakes'' (100 AD): The journey of a band of Hopewell Indians across the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

. *''People of the Song Trail'' (980 AD): The first contact between Native Americans and

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

. * ''People of the Masks'' (1000 AD):

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

culture of the

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

period. * ''People of the River'' (1080 AD): The mound-building

Cahokia Cahokia Mounds ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from present-day St. Louis. The state archaeology park lies in south-western Illinois between East St. L ...

empire on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. *''People of the Morning Star, Sun Born, Moon Hunt,'' ''Star Path, Lightning Shell'' (1100 AD): A tetralogy set in the Cahokian empire. * ''People of the Silence'' (1130 AD): The decline of the Chaco Empire of the Southwest. * ''People of the Moon'' (1150 AD): The collapse of the Chaco Empire's frontier, from the perspective of a subject people in what is now southern Colorado. * ''People of the Canyons'' (1300 AD): The

Fremont culture The Fremont culture or Fremont people is a pre-Columbian archaeological culture which received its name from the Fremont River in the U.S. state of Utah, where the culture's sites were discovered by local indigenous peoples like the Navajo and Ut ...

in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. * ''People of the Mist'' (1200 AD): A murder mystery set among the Algonquian people of the Chesapeake Bay region. * ''People of the Weeping Eye'' and ''People of the Thunder'' (1200 AD): The mound-building culture around

. * ''People of the Longhouse, The Dawn Country, The Broken Land'', and ''People of the Black Sun'' (1400 AD): Conflict within the

nation in New England and New York.

Novels

People of the Wolf

''People of the Wolf'' (), the first book in the series, the story explores the migration of humans into pre-historic North America. The story starts with a woman being raped on the sea side. She gives birth to twins who are destined to change the history of the People. The novel follows two clans as they make way to new lands during the Ice age. Spurred by a vision he had while on a hunt, a young tribesman named Runs in Light, later called Wolf Dreamer, leads a handful of tribes people, in rebellion against the tribal shaman, south down the

Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...

valley into what is now Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

People of the Fire

''People of the Fire'' (, 1991) dramatizes the transition of Native American culture from Paleo-Indian to Archaic as a result of climatic warming, set in the High Plains and Western Rockies region. It is the second book in ''North America's Forgotten Past'' series. Amid disastrous climate changes, the Red Hand and Short Buffalo tribes struggle for survival, and against each other. In order to survive in the changing world, they must change with it, but to do that, they need the guidance of a new Dreamer, and the Red Hand's sacred Wolf Bundle must be renewed.

People of the Sea

''People of the Sea'' () dramatizes the initial development of the California Native American culture and the imminent extinction of mammoths and mastodons as a result of climatic warming ca. 8000 BC. It is the fifth book in the series.

People of the Lakes

''People of the Lakes'' () is the sixth book in the series. The title is a reference to the location and type of natives portrayed in the book, following the naming convention set forth by previous books in the series. The book is set in the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n continent during the Iron Age (c. 100 CE) and follows the plight of a group of

natives There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

trying to save their

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

from a great evil and avoid a rival clan. Clan fighting over a powerful

totem A totem (from or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage (anthropology), lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While the word ...

ic mask has brought the

Mound Builder Many pre-Columbian cultures in North America were collectively termed "Mound Builders", but the term has no formal meaning. It does not refer to specific people or archaeological culture but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks that in ...

people of the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of Northern America is a binational Canadian– American region centered on the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and the Ca ...

to the edge of destruction. It is up to Star Shell, daughter of a Hopewell chief, to rid her people of this curse. Along with her companions: Otter, a trader; Pearl, a runaway; and Green Spider, either

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

or madman, she braves the stormy waters of the lakes to reach the majestic

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

known as Roaring Water. She is determined to banish the mask forever to a watery grave. But vengeful clan members are close on her heels, and they have a similar fate planned for her.

Main characters

Little Dancer/Fire Dancer: A young man of the Red Hand raised in a village of the Short Buffalo People, Little Dancer struggles to understand and come to grips with his emerging shamanic Power. He later becomes Fire Dancer after said Power comes into full bloom. Two Smokes: An aging

Two-Spirit ''Two-spirit'' (also known as ''two spirit'' or occasionally ''twospirited'', or abbreviated as ''2S'' or ''2E'', especially in Canada) is a umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a trad ...

who helps raise Little Dancer while seeking to glean a new food source in light of the dwindling numbers of buffalo. Elk Charm: The love-interest of Little Dancer, she leaves the Red Hand camp after completing her first

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and Mucous membrane, mucosal tissue from the endometrium, inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized ...

, fearing ambush and rape by Blood Bear. Tanager: An independent-minded Red Hand warrior-woman amazingly skilled in battle. She is renowned for her ability to outrun men, to evade flying war-darts (spears launched by means of an

atlatl A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever, or ''atlatl'' (pronounced or ; Classical Nahuatl, Nahuatl ''ahtlatl'' ) is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in Dart (missile), dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a Plain bearing, b ...

) and her ferocity in battle. Blood Bear: Ferocious war-leader of the Red Hand who becomes Keeper of the Wolf Bundle after reclaiming it from the Short Buffalo People, but shows no respect to the sacred object in private. He is revealed to be Little Dancer's biological father. Heavy Beaver: Chief of the Short Buffalo tribe who uses false Dreams to obtain power for himself. Heavy Beaver suffers greatly from an

Oedipus complex In classical psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus complex is a son's sexual attitude towards his mother and concomitant hostility toward his father, first formed during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. A daughter's attitude of desire ...

, struggling to prove his worth to the memory of his dead mother. White Calf: The ancient medicine woman who teaches Little Dancer to harness his Dreams.

Recurring terms

* Dreamer: When capitalized ("Dreamer" instead of "dreamer"), refers to a shaman, or one who possesses the talent for shamanic visions. * Dream: Also called a Power Dream, refers to a shamanic vision (differentiated from ordinary REM sleep by means of capitalization). * Power: When capitalized, refers to things in and of the spirit world, magic, Dreaming, etc. * dart: A spear launched by means of an

, in common use prior to the invention of the bow and arrow in North America. "War darts" are darts intended specifically for killing humans in war-time, as opposed to buffalo or mammoths or other prey animals of ancient North America. * Wolf Dreamer/First Man: The main protagonist of the first book, who becomes a figure of legend in subsequent books. The further "ahead" the books go, the more the alteration effect of oral history becomes apparent. *First Woman: Though her name is never mentioned, it is assumed that her true name is Heron, who helped Wolf Dreamer in the first novel. She appears in subsequent novels as a loner spirit who lives in a cave, fickle. * the One: Refers to the belief that all life is one life, but viewed from many perspectives. To touch the One is a state of

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

-like self-transcendence where a Dreamer is at his or her most Powerful.

First edition covers

File:W. Michael Gear - People of the Wolf.jpeg, People of the Wolf File:People of the Fire.jpg, People of the Fire File:People of the Lakes.jpg, People of the Lakes File:People of the Sea.jpg, People of the Sea

References

External links

People books section on the Gear official web site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:First North Americans, The Historical novels by series Novel series Tor Books books Novels set in prehistory Novels set in pre-Columbian America Books about Native Americans