Food Spirits Author:Beth Brant From Publishers Weekly: — Most of these sensitive, engaging tales set in Canada explore the private tragedies and triumphs of Native Americans. The exception, "This Is History," offers a woman-focused account of the origins of Turtle Island (the Earth) in which Sky Woman (the moon) and her daughter/companion First Woman share the "... more »naming" tasks central to creation tales. In "Wild Turkeys," a woman visiting her hometown is shaken when a chance encounter brings back vivid memories of an abusive relationship she fled. The title story tells of 80-year-old Elijah Powless, determined to see his twin granddaughters in the "big city." Armed only with innocent charm and a bag of homemade fry bread, he travels to Detroit, making friends and allies of all whom he meets. Several of Brant's ( The Mohawk Trail ) stories consider the need to come to terms with death: in "This Place," a medicine man whose "good medicine" ranges from butter tarts and old Hank Williams songs to a snakeskin and chanting helps a gay man afflicted with AIDS find the courage to "see death coming and run to meet it."