In a newly created United States, a child named John Tanner finds himself alone in a wood facing Indians. To his surprise, he is not scalped but adopted. How will he survive in this new family when he is torn between two warring cultures?
An incredible but true story
Set in thenineteenth century, Tanner recounts his extraordinary life of a man from two cultures who, living today among whites, remains despised by the rest of society for his "shocking" mores.The screenwriter Christian Perrissin and the cartoonist Boro Pavlovic, already authors of El Nino, were inspired by the biography of a doctor who admired this "white Indian" from the Great Lakes region. The relatively calm pace allows to penetrate the story by the text more than by the few dialogues. This follows the logic of the story because, during the first months, the child does not speak the Indian language. 
A journey back in time
We can mention the very beautiful edition of Glénat. Not only by the large format that allows you to admire the drawings but also by the bonuses before and after the comic. These texts embellished with sketches shed light on the life of the character and the historical context. Son of a large family whose pastor father, John Tanner had a rather standard beginning of life. His mother died when he was a baby, his father quickly remarried with a very young girl. This may surprise the reader but it is quite classic at the time especially for the settlers. The scenario does not dwell on this first family because everything begins with the kidnapping of young John by two Ojibwe Indians. He was stolen from his family and desired by the mother of a tribal chief to replace a lost son. In the first days after his arrival, a ceremony transfers the spirit of this deceased son to John's body. This symbolic act of integration will not prevent his father and brothers from hating him so that, a few years later, he is sold to another tribe but his life will not be easier.
A journey rewriting history
This volume operates a revaluation of the Indians long despised in westerns. While whites managed to cultivate thanks to their slaves, Indian tribes had their own language and culture that differed depending on the tribe. John has a hard time understanding these new moral codes. He thinks he is starving by his captors during his kidnapping. In fact, he is purified because he still lives for them between the world of the whites and that of the Indians. Through Tanner's account, the reader discovers with great surprise the education of an Indian child. Poorly accepted by the males of the group, he was assigned for several months to functions reserved for women. He is often punished because, mourning the lack of his parents, he transgresses the rule that a man should not show his pain. The screenwriter does not idealize this group. It shows the miserable life of tribes upset by colonization as well as the ravages of alcohol on men and women Even if the whole may sometimes seem too classic, the life of John Tanner is so extraordinary that reading this first volume is a pleasant journey far from the clichés of westerns. The reader comes out less idiotic and naïve about the life of the Indians.
