Natural New York Book Review: The Last Algonquin, by Theodore Kazimiroff

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. It started like this:

When I was a boy in 1924, I used to walk from my house in Throggs Neck to the woody hills of Hunter and Twin Islands as often as I could. The area fascinated me because it contained almost all the Flora and Fauna that I had read about in my boy scout manuals . . . I could spend an entire day walking field and shore without seeing another person. I had no idea the reverse was seldom true . . .

One morning in early October of that year, I was on Twin Island. As I walked toward the glacial boulder called "Lion Rock," a figure stepped from behind it into my view . . .  He stood and looked at me for what seemed like quite a long time before he said, "Good day, I am Joe." 

The second thing he said was "I know you very much. You watch all the living things and you do not harm them. Why?

The young Boy Scout explained his desire to earn merit badges and wilderness exploration. Joe quickly understood the similarities between the young boy's natural curiosity about nature and the Algonquin way. A friendship was born.

Aquehonga (Bronx) River, where Joe Two Trees was born and raised.

Theodore Kazimiroff was lucky, because Joe Two Trees, reserved and wary of the white man, let his defenses down and told the boy everything. His story is truly incredible. Joe's story starts and ends in the North Bronx, which was still wilderness in the 1920s. In between is fascination, a sojourn into the city of Manhattan, the farms of Staten Island, and the coal mines of Pennsylvania, and back to New York City. Sadly, Kazimiroff passed away in 1980, but his son, Theodore Kazimiroff, Jr, retold the story from his father's perspective in this book.

It reads well, in due part to Joe's natural talent. The Algonquin aren't just good storytellers, they are great storytellers. Little if any is lost between Joe's original story and the younger Kazimiroff's retelling of it. For example, Joe could recall the exact month and year of British General Howe's invasion of Pelham Bay, and he could recall the exact year when Jonas Bronk settled in the region which now bears his name.

In addition to Joe Two Trees' personal saga, he explains much of his Algonquin religious beliefs. My favorite is a battle that is responsible for the many rocks that plague boats in the East River. The Algonquins said that they joined a fight between the Great Creator, Tchi-Manitou, and the Evil One, Manetto. While Chi-Manitou and the Algonquins say they won the fight, Manetto escaped to long island, and left the rocks in the East River as revenge. Few people of any faith would argue that Lucifer himself resides in Long Island!

Artistic conception of Joe Two Trees

Over thirty years have passed since this book was published and became a national bestseller, and a movie production is just now in the works. When the movie does finally come to fruition, that will be great. But there is no excuse for passing up the opportunity to read this book. Like I said, you can't put it down.