A Land Remembered Blog

A Land Remembered Blog- Character Toby Cypress 

In the book A Land Remembered, by Patrick D. Smith, I chose to write about a character named Toby Cypress. Toby was half Indian because of his mother, and half white because of his father.  He was made fun of by his peers because he had a white father, but the adults respected him because he was a “MacIvey.” He served as a tribal leader and did many good things for his people.

Sol MacIvey, was his half-brother whom shared the same father as Toby, except he was a white man because he had a different mother. At one point in life, they got along and shared great memories but as years passed Toby grew angry with Sol because he destroyed the Indian land reservations that he loved, and replaced it with chaos. Toby and his half-brother went many years without speaking but right before Sol died, he paid Toby and visit and apologized for all he had done to the land. Toby forgave Sol and wished that things could have been different between them, but he knew it could not because they were from two different worlds.

           

                                       http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2011/04/29/9208897/DSC1059.jpg

The character Toby Cypress had a great relationship with the environment and natural world. He was very in touch with his love for nature and he truly cared about the preservation of it. He said that when he died he wanted to stay in the swamp where he belongs. He had two reservations left by the time he grew old, but most of the land that he grew up around was destroyed which really bothered him. He loved nature, and animals, and believed in keeping them safe.

                                                      http://www.american-state-parks.com/images/Florida-Everglades.jpg

Toby experiences a strong sense of place in the woods, and swamps. He loves nature and I believe that this is where he feels most content. I think that this is his sense of place mostly because I knew how angry it made him when it got destroyed. He cared a lot about nature and animals, to a point that he didn’t speak to his half-brother for most of his life because he had destroyed the land that he loved so much.  He left a legacy behind by becoming a leader of his tribe and teaching others about their culture and beliefs.

                         

http://20thcenturyaviationmagazine.com/john-stemple-page/apache-princess-dwells-in-the-land-of-the-seminoles/

I suppose I can relate to this character in a few different ways. Similar to him, I have half-brothers whom we share the same father and different mothers. I believe that this affected our relationship because we were raised very differently, which caused us not to see eye to eye on many things. I also have a hostile relationship with some of my half-brothers for reasons that I am not sure of other than them resenting my mom for “taking their dad away from them.” I also am similar to Toby because I love nature and feel a sense of place when I y am outdoors in the environment that I grew up in. I also have strong beliefs like him.