In northwest Alabama, there is a stone wall dedicated to my great-great-grandmother's journey, about which this book is written, and to all Native American women.

The wall is my way of honoring my ancestors. It has become a special place to many who visit it, for reasons that relate to their own lives.

After walking the length of the wall, Charlie Two Moons, a spiritual person, explained it this way: "The wall does not belong to you, Brother Tom. It belongs to all people. You are just the keeper. I will tell you that it is wichahpi, which means ‘like the stars'. When they come, some will ask, ‘Why does it bend, and why is it higher and wider in some places than in others?' Tell them it is like your great-great-grandmother's journey, and their journey through life--it is never straight."

Tom Hendrix has felt an intense connection to the Singing River since his boyhood, even before he became fully aware of Te-lah-nay's story. Father, grandfather, conservationist, golfer, and fisherman, Tom lives with his wife in a small woodland haven adjoining the Natchez Trace Parkway in northwest Alabama.