Tenja of the Red Paint People

Book excerpt: Tenja of the Red Paint People tells the story of a teenage girl living long ago in what is now northeastern Canada. Tall, strong, and lanky, Tenja loves to run and has exceptional speed and stamina for her age. She also has an unusual thirst for knowledge, learning a great deal particularly from the older men and women of her extended family. She is a keen observer of the great variety of life forms around her, noting things that others might not even detect. She lives in a land of plenty with her family and relatives. Her tribe carries on the custom of painting their bodies and their possessions with red paint made from red ochre. As a result, their neighbors to the north, the Inu or Eskimos, call Tenjas tribe the Red Paint People. Small bands of marauders from the east are a threat to be reckoned with, as are the many dangers from a very wide variety of wild animals. Even though she lived thousands of years ago, Tenja tackled some of the same basic predicaments many teenagers find themselves in today. Journey in Tenjas moccasins and experience an adventure set over 8,000 years ago.