Judith Siers-Poisson

Ninety-year-old Raymond Kaquatosh was born in 1924 on Wisconsin’s Menominee Reservation. In his Wisconsin Historical Society Press memoir Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf, Kaquatosh tells the stories of his reservation boyhood, Indian boarding school days, and military service and shares how the lessons he learned from a wolf he had befriended as a boy guided him along the way.

Kaquatosh, also known as “Little Hawk,” was the son of a medicine woman. He spent a Depression-era boyhood immersed in the beauty of the natural world and the traditions of his tribe and family. When he was eight, Kaquatosh’s father died, and the tough times that followed forced “Little Hawk” to an Indian boarding school in Keshena. There he experienced isolation and despair, but also comfort and kindness. Upon his return home, Kaquatosh remained a lonely boy in a full house until he met and befriended a timber wolf. The unusual bond they formed would last through both their lifetimes. As Ray grew into a young man, he left the reservation more frequently. Yet whenever he returned – from school and work, from service in the Marines, and finally from postwar Wausau with his future wife – the wolf waited.

This rare first-person narrative of a Menominee Indian’s coming of age, shares a story that is wise and irreverent, often funny, and in the end, deeply moving.

Kaqautosh’s memories are framed with a foreword by Dr. Verna Fowler, president of the College of Menominee Nation, who writes that the memoir is, “must reading for all of us to aid our understanding of other cultures, particularly young American Indians growing up on reservations because it connects them with their elders.”

This book has also been selected by the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association as a Midwest Connections Pick for the month of November.

Media: For a review copy or for more information, please contact Kristin Gilpatrick, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 816 State St., Madison, WI 53706; 608-264-6465; email: kristin.gilpatrick@wisconsinhistory.org.

The Wisconsin Historical Society Press, publishing the best of

Wisconsin history and culture since 1855

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Upcoming Book Events:

Saturday, October 4, 2014 – Book Talk & Signing
Time: 10:30 am

Location: Patterson Memorial Public Library, Wild Rose. Menominee Indian Raymond Kaquatosh, the 90-year-old author of the new Wisconsin Historical Society Press memoir Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf, will share stories of his reservation boyhood, Indian boarding school and military experiences, as well as the life lessons he learned from a lone wolf he befriended as a boy. A book signing will follow.

Thursday, October 23, 2014 – Book Launch Event

Time: 11 a.m.

Location: College of Menominee Nation, Keshena, Wis. College President Dr. Verna Fowler will lead a discussion with Menominee Elder Raymond Kaquatosh, the 90-year-old author of the Wisconsin Historical Society Press memoir Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf. Through the discussion, Kaquatosh will share stories of his reservation boyhood, Indian boarding school, and military experiences, as well as the life lessons he learned from a lone wolf he befriended as a boy. A book signing will follow.

Saturday, November 1, 2014 – Little Hawk: A Conversation

Time: 10 a.m.

Location: Wisconsin Veterans Museum, on the Capitol Square, Madison, Wis. Join a unique discussion between Wisconsin Public Radio host Judith Siers-Poisson, from The Larry Meiller Show, and Menominee Indian Raymond Kaquatosh, the 90-year-old author of a new Wisconsin Historical Society Press memoir Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf. Through the live interview format of the event, Ray will share stories from Kaquatosh’s reservation boyhood, Indian boarding school days, and war experiences in the U.S. Marine Corps. The author will also discuss the life lessons he learned from a lone wolf he befriended as a boy. A book signing will follow at the museum’s gift shop. This event is co-hosted by the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and Wisconsin Public Radio.

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