She was a Shawnee girl who lived far beyond white
settlement. She fell in love with a Swedish trader named Israel Friend. Together they built a good life for their children in the place known to the Shawnee
as the “River of Swans”.
Their home was a meeting place long before exploration
reached them, and was a landmark centuries after they were gone. Indian battles
were fought on their land. Surveyors drew maps that would please their patrons. The Shawnee chafed under pressure of the “Long Knives” who were coming
into the area.
She knew traders and speculators, warriors
and gentlemen. She witnessed a grand convocation of Chiefs who bestowed vast
acreage on her husband. She sneaked her children past the eyes of brutal warriors
who butchered scores of men after she slipped away. She saw her husband’s
land confiscated. She aided runaway slaves.
She officiated at joyous births, and mourned epidemic victims.
Bokavar’s memory has lived on in the tales
passed down among her children’s children… tales from the Story Fires.
