A piercing, warm, and witty book that bears witness to the protest of existing and to the right to remake and reimagine our own myths.
- Lena Waithe, Rishi Rajani, and Naomi Funabashi, Hillman Grad Books
An astonishing coming-of-middle-age debut about an Ahkwesáhsne man’s reluctant return home, Old School Indian is a striking exploration of the resonance of love and family, culture and history.
ISBN
9781638931454
Language
English
Page count
416
Edition
Hardcover
Sale date
May 6, 2025
Dimensions
6 x 9
About the Book
Abe Jacobs is Kanien’kehá:ka from Ahkwesáhsne—that’s People of the Flint, from Where the Partridge Drums—or, if you ask a white dude, a Mohawk Indian from the Saint Regis Tribe. Whichever way you cut it—and Dominick Deer Woods, our irreverent, wisecracking narrator, cuts it six ways to Sunday—at eighteen Abe left the reservation where he was raised and never looked back.
Now forty-three, Abe is suffering from a rare disease—one his doctors in Miami believe will kill him. Running from his diagnosis and a failing marriage, Abe returns to the Rez, where he’s convinced to undergo a healing at the hands of his Great Uncle Budge. But this ain’t Sweet Home Ahkwesáhsne, as Dominick might say, and Budge—a wry recovered alcoholic prone to wearing band t-shirts featuring pot-bellied naked dudes—isn’t the least bit precious about his gift. Which is good, because his time off Rez has made Abe a thorough skeptic. However, to heal Abe will have to undertake a revelatory journey, confronting the parts of himself he’s hidden ever since he left home and learning to cultivate hope, even at his darkest hour.
Delivered with crackling wit and wildly inventive linguistic turns, Old School Indian is a striking exploration of the power and secrets of family, the capacity for healing and catharsis, and the ripple effects of history and culture.
Reviews
“With its profound exploration of identity, language, and cultural survival, Old School Indian is a novel of pure heart and mastery. Through the vivid and deeply human lives of a Mohawk family, Curtis weaves a narrative that is both urgent and timeless, drawing us into a world where every word, every action, carries the weight of history and the hope for the future.”
“Old School Indian is an inspired novel by an author whose voice absolutely sizzles on the page. Aaron John Curtis has given us a moving story of self-discovery that journeys through the crucibles of sickness, history, identity, family, and loss—all told by one of the most inventive, funny, brash narrators you’ll ever find. A beautiful, dazzling debut.”
“Aaron John Curtis gives us honest storytelling shaped by humor, sincerity, and heartbreak. His characters are drawn with strength from his Indigenous community and skillfully cured by tradition and hope. Old School Indian is a novel that reminds us of an essential truth: when one person heals the entire community can feel it.”
Aaron John Curtis
Aaron John Curtis is an enrolled member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, which he’ll tell you is the white name for the American side of Akwesasne. Aaron has judged for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance prizes, the 2019 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, and the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Since 2004, Aaron has been Quartermaster at Books & Books, Miami’s largest independent bookstore. He lives in Miami.
