The Shaman’s Granddaughter: One Woman’s Journey to Find Her Path

When Alexis Bishop is called home by her dying father, she is completely unprepared for the ties that bind her to her childhood home in the Oregon High Desert. Arriving there, she steps into her father's shoes, caring for his law firm, his 3,000 acre cattle ranch, and his health. She immediately entrusts his health to her grandfather, Chases Bear, a medicine man for the three tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation north of the ranch. Taking part in his healing ceremonies and using his practices on Chases Bear himself, Alexis comes to understand the reason for her long-time yearning to learn the Old Ways, as well as the moodiness her grandfather describes as "Divine discontent." The desire fills her once again, despite extreme sacrifices that may be required. Alexis is equally unprepared for revival of a past love, a mystery involving forged artifacts, and the danger, not only to her comfortable future, but even to her life. As she works with her grandfather, Chases Bear, Alexis wrestles with myriad decisions for her life: should she go back to Washington, DC, to her legal work there and the boyfriend who is unaware of her Indian heritage? Take the lucrative offer of a full partnership in the most prestigious law firm in Oregon, bringing with her a multi-national client worth millions in legal fees? Raised in privilege and comfort, what is the source of her "divine discontent?" Is it the life of sacrifice and service to her mother's People that her grandfather represents? Her first love, left behind when she moved east to go to school or the one who has chased her across country to bring her back to D.C.?

Faye Westlake Newman is a free-lance writer living on the Oregon Coast and traveling throughout the state whenever possible. She is interested in modern Native American ways of life, their history, and their ancestry, and fond of visiting the Bend- Redmond-Warm Springs area where the story takes place.