CROSSING BOK CHITTO, A CHOCTAW TALE OF FRIENDSHIP & FREEDOM by Tim Tingle with Illustrations by Jeanne Rorex Bridges

Tingle, Tim. Crossing Bok Chitto, A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom. Illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridges. El Paso:  Cinco Puntos Press. 2006  ISBN 978317776

Crossing Bok Chitto won the ALA Notable Children’s Book Award for 2007 and the 2008 American Indian Youth Literature Award for best picture book.  It is a beautiful Native American literary contribution about friendship and freedom.  Set in antebellum Mississippi, the story is unique in that it involves two cultures: Choctaw and African American.  The hero and heroine of the story are children from each culture: Little Mo (African American) and Martha Tom (Choctaw).

The Bok Chitto is a river running through Mississippi.  Plantation owners and their African American slaves live on one side of the river, and the Choctaw Nation lives on the other side.  The Choctaw built a secret means of crossing the river that makes people appear to be walking on water.  The slaves on the other side would be free if only they could find a way to cross the river.

One day, Martha Tom, though forbidden,  dares to walk across the river on the hidden stones in order to find food.  There she meets the slave families as they gather to worship.  She continues to return to worship with them and becomes good friends with Little Mo, a boy near her age.  When Little Mo’s mother is slated to be sold away from the family, Little Mo seeks help from Martha Tom and the other Choctaws and is not disappointed.  

Jeanne Rorex Bridges of Cherokee descent illustrates this lovely tale with rich, bold earth tones.  This is in keeping with the Choctaw’s claim to be “people of the earth.”  She captures the differences in clothing, hair style, and skin color between the Native American, African American, and White American.  She also captures powerful emotions with stoic faces and weeping eyes.  There are no smiles in the book, but the story will definitely warm your heart.

Tim Tingle, a well known storyteller of the Oklahoma Choctaw Nation, lends the back story to this tale as well as some education in Choctaw history.  In the back of the book there are two photographs with accompanying essays detailing the contemporary Choctaws of Oklahoma and Mississippi and a note on Choctaw storytelling.  This information, along with Tingle’s reputation, adds authenticity to this book as a reliable contribution of Native American children’s literature.  Tingle concludes his personal remarks at the end of the book with a poem that marks the Choctaw love and respect of nature.  One stanza speaks specifically of rivers:

We will remain as close as possible to our rivers,

For they are intertwined with our faith. 

We love the clean water of our rivers. 

We renew our strength by returning to our rivers. 

We are baptized in our rivers.

This connection brings to mind other cultural stories such as The Old African by Julius Lester (2005) and When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant (1982) which have a spiritual connection to water as elements in the story.  Other slave escape stories like Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine (2007) and Moses by Carole Boston Weatherford (2006) also come to mind as stories of dangerous sacrifices to secure freedom.  Whether you want to feature freedom, friendship, or family, Crossing Bok Chitto is a good choice for ages 7-13.  Receiving starred reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Midwest Book Review, Crossing Bok Chitto “is very highly recommended for all young readers as a celebration of diversity, acceptance, and unity…” (Midwest Book Review).