Howard Burman

You Shoot Me Now: the True Story of Walla Tonehka Howard Burman

Publisher Marketing: After a Choctaw Indian is convicted of murder and is sentenced to be executed, he is allowed to go free and play baseball for his team if he will promise to return after his final game to be shot. He agrees. In 1897 in the Indian Territory (now the state of Oklahoma) a young Choctaw Indian, Walla Tonehka, attends a local dance. When his girlfriend turns up accompanied by another man, Tonehka, in a fit of jealous rage, draws his pistol and in full sight of others, shoots his rival dead with a single shot. He is quickly convicted by a Choctaw court and sentenced. However, since he is the outstanding player on the Choctaw baseball team which is so important to the Choctaw Nation's sense of accomplishment, the deal is struck. The situation garners great national interest and is reported by newspapers across the country. Questions abound. Will he honor his promise and agree to be executed? Should he? If he does, is he a hero or a fool? At the last minute will he run off? Is the Choctaw sense of honor stronger than that of others? Is the greater sin preferring life to honor, and for the sake of living to lose what makes life worth having? Who really has the authority in this case, the U. S. government or the Choctaw Nation?