In the Shadow of Agiocochook

Agiocochook, renamed Mt. Washington in 1820 to honor George Washington, is front and center in the collective psyche of New Hampshire identity and can be seen looming on the horizon from most heights of land in New Hampshire as well as well out to sea. Like Mt. Washington, New Hampshirites, are strong willed, unbending in a tempest and can create storms all by themselves. New Hampshirites are also as tough and in some cases as unmoving as the granite rock pile itself. In short, as a result of Agiocochook's majestic presence, New Hampshire is in the Shadow of Agiocochook. As in the two previous volumes, "Land of the Shapeshifter" and "Shapeshifter's Peace - Passaconaway's Path to Peace," "In the Shadow of Agiocochook - Stories from the Land of the Shapeshifter" is based on Native American oral histories, teachings and traditions, their shapes shifted to give new depth and understanding and to also fill in where gaps of knowledge exist. Some of the stories in this collection, such as "The Necklace," "A Moment of Kindness Remembered Forever" and "The Good, the Bad and the To Be Seen" were written about Stephen's ancestors and based on research of historical facts, as known at the time, and then expanded into the realm of possibility. The stories "Jibayskweda" and "the Ice Hearted Metee-kolen-ol" are loosely based on Abenaki legends. The poem "The Door" was written after the author's experience at Historical Deerfield that left him numb and unable to move as he stood in front of it, not realizing his personal connection to the event that resulted in the huge gash into the door. The powerful and provocative poem "Just Died Off" was written from the perspective of those Abenaki whose voice fails them in articulating the pain they feel inside their hearts for all that transpired during these past 400 years since the arrival of European settlers.
About the Author: Stephen Berwick, a descendant of northern New England and Quebec's Native American peoples as well as French and English settlers, was born in Laconia, New Hampshire in 1962. In his life and work Stephen strives to open minds and hearts, believing as Buddha did that "In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true." Stephen, who speaks Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and French and is also conversant in Swedish, Indonesian and Thai, has traveled widely throughout Northeast and Southeast Asia. A practicing Buddhist since 1981, Stephen underwent ordination as a Buddhist monk in 2004. His preceptor, the Venerable Luang Po Chan Kusalo, one of Thailand's foremost theologians, consented to Stephen's ordination only after considerable persuasion, allowing him to become the first Westerner in 600 years to ordain at Chiangmai's Wat Chedi Luang, a temple famous as the former home of the Emerald Buddha. Upon returning to New Hampshire Stephen began publishing Asia-Link Journal with the goal of promoting cultural understanding, respect and peace. Stephen also wrote a biography about a Korean-American woman entitled "From Ch'ongnyangni to Northfield" which was published by the Korean Cultural Service as well as two biographies about Vietnamese refugees which were published as part of the anthology "Voices of the Vietnamese Boat People." Stephen has received a number of awards for his poetry and was named International Poet of Merit in 1995 by the International Poetry Association as well as nominated as the Association's 1995 Poet of the Year for his poem "Exile," a poem that embodies the spirit of America's immigrants. In February 2011 Stephen's book "Land of the Shapeshifter" was published. The book employs interpretive short stories based on historical events as a guide to the world of Passaconaway and his descendants to explore the land the Abenaki call "N'dakinna" - "Our Land." In April 2011 "Shapeshifter's Peace - Passaconaway's Path to Peace" was published, the first in a series of seven historical fiction books about the effects of European settlement on the Abenaki peoples of New Hampshire with the hope of promoting understanding of America's past as well as respect and peace amongst all peoples.