Clan by Sigmund Brouwer

Clan is a novel about a boy's quest to find his place within his clan and to find redemption after disaster strikes. The story is set in prehistoric North America, during the end of the last Ice Age.

Atlatl is a member of the Clan led by his father Nootau. Their Healer, the Clan's spiritual leader is Banti, Atlatl's uncle and Nootau's brother. Atlatl's grandmother, Wawaetseka is Nootau and Banti's mother and the oldest woman in the Clan. Atlatl's clan winters in the Valley of the Turtle. "It was a vast valley; the low set of mountains on the western side, purpled by haze, were at least a day's walk away. Far, far upstream along the river that fed this valley was Ghost Mountain, where the Clan never traveled. Beyond Ghost Mountain was the land of the gods, where the Turtle god had been bound by the others to save the peoples from his anger not a place for mere mortals to tread."

Not yet a man, Atlatl struggles to walk, his left leg twisted at the knee from a fall off a cliff as a young child. Now on an outing in the afternoon on a late summer day, Atlatl is experimenting with a new weapon to hunt birds. Because of his limp, Atlatl knows that without two strong legs, he will never be allowed to join the hunters, led by his father. If he can devise a weapon to make hunting easier, he might be able to join the other men.

But while in the hills, Atlatl finds himself trapped by a saber-tooth tiger. The valley where his clan winters is filled with many predators including dire wolf, lion, cheetah, short-face bear and saber-tooth tiger. As the saber-tooth is preparing to attack, suddenly a cub scrambles from behind Atlatl towards the saber-tooth. Once she sees her cub she loses interest in Atlatl, but as she's preparing to take her cub back to the lair, she along with Atlatl are surrounded by a pack of dire wolves. Atlatl manages to save himself and the cub by climbing the rock face. The saber-tooth tiger is not so lucky. 

At the clan camp, Atlatl first encounters his cousin Powaw, who does not believe his story about surviving the saber-tooth and the attack by the dire wolves. The two boys are natural enemies, as their fathers do not get along. Powaw provokes the cub who scratches him and determined to see Atlatl lose the cub, promises to take his request to the Council of Elders.

Wawetseka and the other women, after hearing both boys decide that the cub may live among the dogs of the Clan and that as soon as it is weaned, it must be set free. Wawetseka asks Atlatl to report on the marker stone set by the river. It was the Healer's tradition to set an oddly shaped stone at the edge of the riverbank to warn of rising water. Atlatl's clan believes that when the other gods had defeated Turtle, he was weighed down with boulders and thrown into the lake behind Ghost Mountain. If he were ever to free himself, Turtle would flood the valley in retaliation. This is why it is the duty of the Healer to observe the marker stone. In Atlatl's clan, that duty falls to Banti but as he is away with the hunters, Wawetseka asks Atlatl to check for her. Although Atlatl has noticed a possible slight rising of the river, he decides not to upset his grandmother with something that might not be.

With the return of the hunters, tensions in the camp rise. Atlatl struggles as he sees his father teaching Powaw the techniques of tool making. He is ridiculed over his attempts to make a new weapon, a throwing stick that can throw stones very far. 

Then Wawetseka accuses Atlatl of lying to her about the marker stone. But the two discover that the river is changing and that the Clan must be warned. Meanwhile after many days, Powaw accuses Atlatl's saber-tooth of stealing meat from the drying rack. When Powaw pokes Cub with a spear, Atlatl grabs the weapon and Cub attacks Powaw, clawing his forearms and knocking him down. This scene is witnessed by Banti who brings it before the Council of Elders.

The Council decides that Cub, considered a member of the Clan, will be banished. But this judgement only sets up further tension within the Clan. Added to this is the discovery by Wawetseka and Atlatl that Banti is moving the marker stone to deceive the Clan about the river. When Wawetseka confronts her son, Nootau, he refuses to act, setting the stage for a catastrophe that will change their lives forever.

Discussion

Clan is a mashup of historical and science fiction, a story that incorporates all the features of a hero's journey while also exploring themes of forgiveness and redemption. The novel is divided into three sections, The Great Flood, Turtle God, and The Gathering, with the main character, Atlatl narrating. Atlatl's age is not specified, but he is still a boy, with a lame left leg, damaged in a fall off a cliff. At the end of the novel, it is revealed that his fall was not accidental but an attempt to kill him by his jealous uncle.

Atlatl is part of a small clan of only twenty-five that is led by his father Nootau. Atlatl's father is in conflict with his brother Banti, and this conflict has spilled down to their sons, Atlatl and Powaw. These conflicts have far-reaching effects for their Clan. The conflict between Nootau and Banti leads Nootau to refuse to move the clan from its camp near the river in order to avoid a confrontation with Banti leading to catastrophic results. The conflict between Atlatl and Powaw almost leads to banishment for Atlatl but disaster strikes before this can happen.

The catastrophe is a great flood that washes away the camp of the Clan. Atlatl, Nootau, Powaw, Banti and a young girl Atlatl loves, Takhi survive and are carried downstream. Eventually Atlatl and his father are separated from the others and reach the safety of a rock. However, Atlatl's father rejects him and so Atlatl sets out on his own, to journey to Ghost Mountain to confront the Turtle God. His journey is transformative; he develops a weapon that allows him to throw a spear very far and thus become a hunter, and he learns to survive on his own even using his new weapon to kill a short face bear. Atlatl also discovers the truth of the story of the Turtle god: that it was a story meant to protect the clans from the disaster of a flood, something had likely happened in the past. He and his father, who has been secretly following him, mend their broken relationship with Nootau accepting responsibility for not moving the clan from the valley as he was advised to do.

Atlatl's journey and his reconciliation with his father, lead him to work towards ending the conflict with Banti's son, Powaw. Nootau tells Atlatl, "My brother, Banti, and I were enemies from the moment we could both walk and speak. Only the laws of the Clan kept us from trying to kill each other. I silently hated him every single day of his life. That hatred, I have come to realize, has hurt me far more than it hurt him.... Banti and I used you and Powaw as we fought for power and position." Nootau urges Atlatl "...to set aside your hatred for Powaw, no matter how he treats you. Hatred is something that burns and consumes. If you can treat him as a brother that you love, you will never diminish yourself....Powaw is stronger than you in body, but he knows he is not as intelligent as you are, and it makes him feel weak. Can you promise me that you will try to make peace with him, and that no matter how many times he turns away from peace, you will keep trying?"

To this end, Atlatl shows his good intentions towards Powaw, after he and his father are allowed to remain with the Clan at the Council of Judgement during the Gathering of the Clans. Even after Powaw wrongly accuses Atlatl of trying to kill him during the flood, Atlatl works to carve Powaw a spear thrower and asks Powaw to be his brother. And even when confronted by the hatred of Banti, who is dying, Atlatl keeps his promise to his father. In offering Banti love and compassion, he saves his own life when the old man threatens to take Atlatl with him when he jumps off the cliff.

To write Clan, Brouwer undertook extensive research into Stone Age technology, the First People's of the Americas and the climate and geography of North America during the Ice Age. The Great Flood referenced in the oral history that Atlatl's grandmother Wawetseka relates, is based on the Missoula Flood which is estimated to have happened between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago in Montana and eastern Washington state. This flood was a glacial lake outburst flood in which an ice dam ruptured, allowing the glacial lake behind it to drain into the valley (in this case the Columbia valley) below the ice sheet. Eventually the ice re-formed, the glacial lake re-filled and the cycle repeated itself. Scientists believe this happened several times over a period of several thousand years. Brouwer includes a Notes section at the back that provides information about some of the animals mentioned in the novel as well as the Great Flood and the atlatl. 

Clan is a refreshing addition to Canadian children's literature. It is an exciting novel with an unusual setting that many readers will find fascinating. It is well-written, fast-paced with exciting action scenes involving animals that are now extinct. Sigmund Brouwer is an accomplished Alberta author who has been nominated for the Red Maple Award and has won the Christy Book of the Year and the Arthur Ellis Award. Clan is another outstanding

Book Details:

Clan by Sigmund Brouwer
New York: Tundra Books     2020
250 pp.