There was once a time when there was no metal in the Chukchansi people’s world…
So begins this story set in the old days—before there were cars or television sets, in a time when much of California was covered in swamps, meadows, and forests—when there lived a boy of the Chukchansi tribe in the foothills of the great Sierra mountains.
For thousands of years California Indian elders have used storytelling for entertainment and to teach children values such as love, courage, caution, and responsibility. Lion Singer is just such a tale, presenting Chukchansi culture and familiar relationships in an inviting, heartwarming manner.
Sylvia Ross was born and raised in Los Angeles, apart from her family’s Chukchansi culture. Early on, she worked as a painter for Walt Disney Productions, later returning to school to earn a B.A. from Fresno State University. She then moved with her family to eastern Tulare County, where she taught at a school attended by the children of the Tule River Indian Reservation. She is the author of Lion Singer, a children’s book about a boy in the Chukchansi tribe, has written for News from Native California, and has work in the anthologies The Dirt Is Red Here and Spring Salmon, Hurry To Me.
