No comments about Completing the Circle (North American Indian Prose Award).

1 comments about Son of Two Bloods (North American Indian Prose Award).

1. Says the University of Nebraska Press:

   When Vince Mendoza began to write his life story, he turned to his memory of visiting the deathbed of his great-grandmother, a Creek Indian who embodied the history and dauntless will of her people. The memory inspired both sorrow and boundless pride.

   Son of Two Bloods, Mendoza's vibrant and candid account of his life, is full of such grief and rejoicing. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1947, Mendoza was the child of a Creek mother and a Mexican father. In this book he vividly portrays his Mexican and Indian relatives and his confusing, often painful, childhood interactions with the dominant white society. He left childhood behind when he was sent to Vietnam. There he found hatred, terror, and camraderie in equal measures.

   On returning from Vietnam Mendoza faced a professional, economic, and personal struggles but found consolidation in love, family, and friendship. His moving account of his first wife's courageous, losing battle with cancer ends with renewal as Mendoza remarries and decides to explore his past, and his people, in writing. "Endure, then weep," he writes at last, "endure, and be rewarded, endure and rejoice, endure and learn."

   Son of Two Bloods is his first book

1 comments about Black Culture and the Harlem Renaissance.

1. From the close of the 19th century, when the first pre-Renaissance writers began to be published for the dominating white readers, to the Depression era that marked the demise of the movement, Cary D. Wintz analyzes the emergence of the Harlem Renaissance as the attempt of black writers to come to terms with the social issues of the 1920s-1930s through their writing.

   Being his approach both literary and social, he does not neglect the different positions of politics and philosophers, highlighting the non-unanimity of views on the goals the participants should aim at and the ensuing strains arising from within the movement.

   Wintz sublty depicts an intertwining net of relationships: black community and its literature, black artists and their target, black protégés and white patrons, black authors and white publishing houses, emphasising that it was this sheer interplay between the black intelligentsia and the white community that kept alive the vitality of the movement, despite the inevitable disagreements among the participants. Notwithstanding the fact that the Harlem Renaissance was led by a "loose coalition" of intellectuals, Wintz detects its "uniqueness" and bound in the "shared undertaking" of those same intellectuals who became aware of creating a "revolution in American literature".

   Wintz's particular ability is of investigating the Harlem Renaissance in all its nuances, including in his portrayal both the remote rise of the movement, with the analysis of the impact on the white-dominated scene of major black writers such as Chestnutt and Dunbar, the reasons of its fall and its effects on the following generations of writers, besides the accurate report of the hey-day of the movement.

   Special attention must be drawn on the sources consulted by the critic. As a matter of fact, most of the correspondence exchanged among the participants is scattered all over the United States, kept in several Libraries, Centers and Collections. Therefore, the consultations of such sources underline a work of precision and refinement and an attempt of restoring the live voices of the Renaissance makers.

   As a student and researcher on the topic of the Harlem Renaissance, I found this book exceptionally useful, detailed and clear. The author's style is straight-to-the-point and pragmatic. He wisely avoids any overlapping digression to the main subject matter and makes the reader understand his outlooks with clear images. I warmly recommend this text to any reader who feels like enriching his / her knowledge about this enlighting phase of American literature!

1 comments about Singing an Indian Song: A Biography of D'Arcy McNickle (American Indian Lives).

1. I first became familiar with D'Arcy McNickle through his two novels-The Surrounded and Wind from an Enemy Sky. I did not know that despite his lack of a college degree, he was also a respected anthropologist; he was the right-hand-man to John Collier during his tenure as head of the BIA; he was asked to chair the new Anthropology Dept. at a University; and he was instrumental in organizing some of the programs which led to the pan-Indian movement and activism of the seventies.

   Dorothy Parker does a very good job of covering the life of this fascinating and highly respected man. While she had ample information to draw from regarding his professional life, there was scant information regarding his personal life. Even though McNickle kept a diary and wrote many letters during his lifetime, he made little reference to his personal relationships. Happily Parker respects this. Certainly a life that included two failed marriages and a possible affair, not to mention estrangement from his nuclear family, might have led other authors to go "digging for dirt." Instead Parker engages in some slight speculation, simply to flesh things out, but she does not dwell on these aspects.

   If there is a fault here, however, it is that Parker perhaps focuses too much on the positive. For example, one would wonder why a person who tried to represent Indians in a White world would not have had some doubts regarding the Indian Reorganiztion Act, or some questions as to the way it was implemented. Also, while McNickle became known as an authority on Indian issues, he actually spent very little time living as an Indian. He basically went from the boarding school into a life of government work, and spent very little time on the reservation. While this does not necessarily detract from his accomplishments, I would have liked Parker to address these issues more.

   Over all,however, this is a book worth reading, both for the way it is written, and the person it is about.

1 comments about Biographical Dictionary of American Indian History to 1900.

1. Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, Carl Waldman's Biographical Dictionary Of American Indian History To 1900 provides accurate and informative summaries of more than one thousand men and women of significance to Native American history. Organized alphabetically, these succinct profiles include not only the chiefs and war leaders, but the traders, prophets, religious leaders, statesmen, artists, photographers, medicine men an women, scholars, and educators that have helped to shape and mold the spectrum and variety of Native American cultures. This outstanding edition is enhanced with expanded subject indexes, a bibliography/reading list, and a new general index. Also highly recommended for personal, academic, and community library Native American reference collections are the revised editions of Carl Waldman's early works: Atlas Of The North American Indian and Encyclopedia Of Native American Tribes; as well as his definitive, authoritative linguistic study, Word Dance: The Language Of Native American Culture.

3 comments about Turtle Lung Womans Granddaughter (American Indian Lives).

1. Unlike the last reviewer I was excited to read the book. Unfortunately it was a big dissapointment. I was bored to tears while reading this poorly written remake of every Native American story ever written, with none of the originality. It is truly surprising to see the level of writing published today, this is horrible.



2. I was sceptical to read this book because it was assigned to me to read for one of my criminal justice courses. However, I was really absorbed in the story of the Native American Tribe, the Lakotas. The book is written from an "Americanized" point of view. It tells a story of the authors great grandmother and her life as a Lakota woman. There are many fun and interesting things that happen to the Turgle Lung Woman. She speaks of her courting rituals, battle rituals, labor divisions between men and women, children roles.
   There are interesting stories about homosexuality, adultury, death, commitment to the tribe and war.
   Definitely an interesting book that contains historical facts and the culture of the Lakota tribe.



3. A beautiful minds, loving words, about family, about a people, about a way of life. This story combined with the beauty in word of " Bead on an Anthill " Delphine's first book sets the mind and soul, for a journey into one's self.
   In the female voice of the Lakota, live the life set in the beauty that is the Northern Plains, of this Turtle Island.
   The writting style is such , to savor each word as if it could fill you with the images it creates.
   This is what award winning writing should be about.........

1 comments about Yellowsnake: Son of Prophecy.

1. This book is so filled with adventure and intrigue that you just can't put it down. Jake Conrad is superb in his weaving the life of this remarkable character, Yellowsnake, from his life on a reservation to the jungles of Vietnam. Yellowsnake was taught well in the ways of his great Commanche herritage and went on to be a super Warrior for the battles of Vietnam, His physical strength and abilities, keen mind and his will to get the job done with whatever it takes, make him a true super hero. He finds a place in the mighty Suprstitions Mtns. of Arizona to rest his body and soul and to wait for yet another call from the C.I.A. Yellowsnake was truly one of the best tools the U.S. had.

   This book would make a super movie, think of the many sequels! I would hope Conrad will give us more of this wonderfuly exciting character.

No comments about Apache Mothers and Daughters: Four Generations of a Family.

3 comments about Native Heart: An American Indian Odyssey.

1. As a sociologist with a specialization in power relations and most particularly racial and ethnic relations in the United States, I should probably have been aware of Gabriel Horn's books a long time ago. That I wasn't is a testimony to the door our culture shuts in the face of its history and continued treatment of and attitude toward indigenous people, including the native nations of North America. That I came across Mr. Horn's work now-finally-is a function, I believe, of being in the right place at the right time thinking the right thoughts to put me in touch with an increasing level of important Truth. Native Heart is a story of survival, strength, and glory in the face of odds that have been truly insurmountable physically, but powerless spiritually. It is also a poem to and about Gabriel Horn's people. It holds back nothing, baring the core of his Being in a way that must have been painful, indeed. I am immensely grateful to have been allowed to walk the earth with Mr. Horn and those he introduces us to-past and present-in his books. If you're at all like me, you will be greatly saddened by Native Heart, but quieted, too, in the ultimate knowledge that where there is life, there is, in fact, hope for all who seek it. And if you, like I did, finish Native Heart with a yen for a second helping, Contemplations of a Primal Mind continues both the story and the reader's education.



2. Gabe Horn's Native Heart is written in the voice of a man who walks his path with clear eyes and a loving heart. He does not hesitate to speak the truth, but does so in a way that clearly respects our need as real human beings to accept past (and current) injustices, learn from them and move on to a brotherhood of working together for the good of the People and the Land. Plan to have a highlighting pen near when reading this book to capture the wisdom and burn it into your heart. Once having read the true history of our nation and the continuing bias against any culture which defers from the one in power, there is no excuse for inaction. My personal library of books regarding american indian history, culture and spirit is extensive, and Native Heart now holds a place on honor. I am privileged to be the first person to write a review for this inspired offering and plan to purchase additional copies for my loved ones. We are indeed all related. Walk in Balance. Marsha Anisoquili (Many Ponies) Raymond -



3. 'Native Heart' for me offered great depth of insight into Native Amercian spirituality, and the difficulties faced in modern US society preserving that culture. It also highlighted the bigotry Native peoples face here, and the misguided sterotypes other Americans may often work from when dealing with Native Americans.

   Read after Gabriel Horn's second book - 'Contemplations of a Primal Mind (****), this was the perfect reading sequence for me, as one led directly into the other.

   I would strongly recommend this book to ALL Americans (and non-Americans), as a way to dispel the 'John Wayne' type sterotypes created about Native Americans, and to really understand them as a people, their culture and enlightening spirituality.

2 comments about Power of a Navajo: Carl Gorman : The Man and His Life.

1. A wonderful book about an incredible man who has done so much to bridge the gulf between different peoples. Please note: there is a website for the book and the man at: http://fishnet.net/~kwbgcg/power.htm



2. A wonderful book about an incredible man who has done so much to bridge the gulf between different peoples. Please note: there is a website for the man and the book at: http://www.fishnet.net/~kwbgcg/power.htm