Natives as they are

Book Review--Native IntelligenceLorna Rainey is a Native New Yorker who identifies with her dual heritage. On her maternal side, she is a descendant of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Her paternal great-grandfather, the Hon. Joseph H. Rainey, was America's first Black Congressman.

The inspiration for "Native Intelligence" came as a result of an experience she had in a rental car. Once the basic idea had gelled, the rest of the plot came in furious spurts of writing. She could not write fulltime since she was a fulltime talent agent. Many people have asked why the two main characters are Native American. "I wanted to show contemporary Native American people as they are...living and working among general society by choice or by chance. I wanted to show Native people in situations which have nothing to do with eagle feathers and mystical smoke; not to say that those are not a part of the culture. But it is a great disservice to always be relegated to a stereotypical Hollywood Indian. Our hero and heroine happen to be Native American, and that does add another dimension to the story. I used this as an opportunity to have other Americans remember that, in spite of efforts to eradicate them, the people continue," she explains. "All of my writing, including the TV sitcom I am shopping, shows our society as it is, blended...with the races and cultures overlapping, intermingling, and striving to work together for a common purpose."