Customer Reviews (2)

Wonderful
This book is absolutely wonderful for those who are persuing intrests in Native American Literature. It is a great source of knowledge and understanding. It goes along through all of the struggles and stereotypes that have been placed on Native Americans since we invaded their territory.. I HIGHLEY RECOMMEND

ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL
I first began reading thie book for a NAtive American Literature class, but have found that this books offers great stories that will help you learn and understand many of the struggles of the Indian culture. It goes through the stereotypes and dramas that they had and are still going through. I recommend this book to anyone studying Native Americans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Native American Literature: A Good Selection
This important anthology makes available a range of Native American writings from the early nineteenth century to the present.Genres covered include fiction, poetry, auotobiography, and drama, making this text a finechoice for introduction to literature classes as well as for coursesfocused specifically on Native American literature.Luther Standing Bear'sautobiographical account of his time at the Carlisle school for Indians isa particularly interesting selection for its historical perspective on thepush for "Indians" to assimilate via white modes of education. Vizenor's introduction provides a useful historical framework as well. Some of the selections are relatively well-known in the field of NativeAmerican literary studies, while others (including Vizenor's own drama) donot appear in other anthologies I've seen.Overall, this anthologyrepresents a fine if somewhat idiosyncratic representation of the broaddiversity of Native American literary voices. ... Read more

Book Description
The Dictionary of Native American Literature is a unique, comprehensive, and authoritative guide to the oral and written literatures of Native Americans.It lays the perfect foundation for understanding the works of Native. The book features reports on the oral traditions of various tribes and topics such as the relation of the Bible, dreams, oratory, humor, autobiography, and federal land policies to Native American literature. Eight additional essays cover teaching Native American literature, new fiction, new theater, and other important topics, and there are bio-critical essays on more than 40 writers ranging from William Apes (who in the early 19th century denounced white society's treatment of his people) to contemporary poet Ray Young Bear.
Packed with information that was once scattered and scarce, the Dictionary of Native American Literature -a valuable one-volume resource-is sure to appeal to everyone interestedin Native American history, culture, and literature. ... Read more

Book Description
In an original, widely researched, and accessibly written book,Robert Dale Parker helps redefine the study of Native American literature byfocusing on issues of gender and literary form. Among the writers Parkerhighlights are Thomas King, John Joseph Mathews, D'Arcy McNickle, Leslie MarmonSilko, and Ray A. Young Bear, some of whom have previously received littlescholarly attention.

Parker proposes a new history of Native American literature by reinterpretingits concerns with poetry, orality, and Indian notions of authority. He alsoaddresses representations of Indian masculinity, uncovering Native literature'srecurring fascination with restless young men who have nothing to do, or whosuspect or feel pressured to believe that they have nothing to do.

The Invention of Native American Literature reads Native writing through a widevariety of shifting historical contexts. In its commitment to historicizingNative writing and identity, Parker's work parallels developments in scholarshipon other minority literatures and is sure to provoke controversy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

An Interesting Read
I read many of the stories in this book for a college course and I found them to be rather interesting and thoughtful. Many of the tales are difficult to understand at times, but that usually comes with the oral stories provided by Native Americans. I would definitely recommend this collection of stories to anyone who is particularly curious in Native American legend.

The very best!
Not much need to be said, simply the best collection of indian oral literature I found, and I looked anywhere and everywhere!

Fantastic
Readers interested in the traditional stories, myths, folktales, and other cultural expressions of American Indians would be hard pressed to find a better anthology than this excellent book.Swann edited together stories from a wide range of regions within North America.He included terrific introductions by excellent researchers and authors.These introductions present sufficient background information to learn about the storytelling traditions, and the commentary helps readers understand and appreciate the texts.There is also an extensive bibliography that includes hundreds of additional sources for learning more about the stories, storytellers, authors, and societies that are represented in the book.The stories, themselves, are magnificent.Some are fairly accessible to readers with little knowledge of American Indian history and culture.Other narratives are more esoteric, and they must be read and reread with great patience.As readers develop ways to read these stories, the wonder of the tradition lights up ways to think about the verbal artistry of America's first peoples.

A magnificent collection of Native North American literature
"Coming to Light: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America," edited by Brian Swann, is an amazing volume. Approximately 800 pages long, this anthology brings together materials from all over the continent. Cultures included range from the Yupik of Alaska to the Zuni of New Mexico to the Iroquois of southern Ontario--more than 30 different peoples in all.

Each selection is preceded by its own separate introduction which discusses such topics as the culture and language of the people who produced the text, the specific storytellers, and translation issues.

The material in the anthology includes creation myths, animal tales, trickster stories, songs, and stories of birth, death, and transformation. Some of the most remarkable selections include the Wolverine tales of the Innu, which are masterpieces of bawdy humor, and the Yupik tale of "The Boy Who Went to Live with the Seals," a magical story of human/animal relations. I highly recommend "Coming to Light."

Absolutely wonderful
I really found this book to be an endless source of delight, because it not only features the incredibly diverse multitudes of narratives from individual Native American nations, but it because as a whole it reallychallenges the assumptions that have been handed down to us byimperialists. This is a truly amazing collection by what must be abrilliant scholar. ... Read more

Book Description
This Companion provides an informative and wide-ranging overview of a relatively new field of literary-cultural studies: literature of many genres in English by American Indians from the 1770s to the present day. In addition to the seventeen chapters written by respected experts--Native and non-Native; American, British and European scholars--it includes bio-bibliographies of forty authors, maps, suggestions for further reading, and a timeline which details major works of Native American and mainstream American literature, as well as significant social, cultural and historical events. ... Read more

Book Description
An exploration of the literature, history, and culture of people of mixed African American and Native American descent, When Brer Rabbit Meets Coyote is the first book to theorize an African-Native American literary tradition. In examining this overlooked tradition, the book prompts a reconsideration of interracial relations in American history and literature. Jonathan Brennan, in a sweeping historical and analytical introduction to this collection of essays, surveys several centuries of literature in the context of the historical and cultural exchange and development of distinct African-Native American traditions. Positing a new African-Native American literary theory, he illuminates the roles subjectivity, situational identities, and strategic discourse play in defining African-Native American literatures. Brennan provides a thorough background to the literary tradition and a valuable overview to topics discussed in the essays. He examines African-Native American political and historical texts, travel narratives, and the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, suggesting that this evolving oral tradition parallels the development of numerous Black Indian literary traditions in the United States and Latin America.

The diverse essays cover a range of literatures from African-Native American mythology among the Seminoles and mixed folktales among the Cherokee to autobiography, fiction, poetry, and captivity narratives. Contributors discuss, among other topics, the Brer Rabbit tales, shifting identities in African-Native American communities, the "creolization" of African American and Native American mythologies and religions, and Mardi Gras Indian performance. Also considered are Alice Walker's development of an African-Native American identity in her fiction and essays and African-Native American subjectivity in the works of Toni Morrison and Sherman Alexie. ... Read more

Book Description
High school and college teachers interested in offering units or courses on Native American literature have often had to carve out new teaching strategies because ready resources and guides are scarce. In _Reading Native American Literature: A Teacher's Guide_, Bruce A. Goebel offers innovative and practical suggestions about how to introduce students to a range of Native American works.

Grounded in the idea that studying tribal cultures will enable students to gain deeper insights into Native literatures, each chapter helps teachers recognize what students need to know and then provides them with supporting materials and activities that will lead them to more informed interpretations of the literature. After considering ways in which a study of Native American literature addresses gaps in standard American history textbooks, Goebel discusses the complexity that lies in the language of race.

In the following chapters, he offers in-depth study of specific texts, including early Native American poetry, James Welch's _Fools Crow_, Leslie Marmon Silko's _Ceremony_, and Sherman Alexie's _The Business of Fancydancing_. Reproducible copies of traditional, tribally specific poems and stories are linked to the larger texts being studied.

In addition to a brief annotated bibliography of resources for teaching Native American literature, the chapters also contain histories, a glossary, and teaching activities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent Introduction to Native American Literature
That Dr. Lundquist is a most skillful teacher and careful scholar is evident throughout her work. Here, she serves as a welcoming guide for the student interested in approaching multi-cultural studies generally and Native American literature specifically. She avoids the pitfall of overgeneralizing about a diverse body of literature. Instead, she has devised a cultural bridge for the literary student that celebrates the diversity of Native literature and puts it in an accessible context for both the scholar and the casual student.Dr. Lundquist is a pioneer in the nascent genre of Native American literary criticsm, and this book deserves a place in the library of any student interested in the indigenous literature of the Americas.

Stating the obvious
While this book may provide decent preliminary overview for someone who knows nothing about Native American literature, it lacks any original incite and critical depth.
One of it's crucial claims states that one should "Read Native American Literature open to the possibility that you might find yourself rethinking your view of the world" (29).
I could have gotten the same message from a fortune cookie.This is definitely not literary criticism.
Coming from someone who has spent significant graduate research on Native American literature, I recommend that you do not waste your time reading this so-called "critical work." ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
The Handbook of Native American Literature is a unique, comprehensive, and authoritative guide to the oral and written literatures of Native Americans.It lays the perfect foundation for understanding the works of Native American writers.
Divided into three major sections, Native American Oral Literatures, The Historical Emergence of Native American Writing, and A Native American Renaissance: 1967 to the Present, it includes 22 lengthy essays, written by scholars of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures. The book features reports on the oral traditions of various tribes and topics such as the relation of the Bible, dreams, oratory, humor, autobiography, and federal land policies to Native American literature. Eight additional essays coverteaching Native American literature, new fiction, new theater, and other important topics, and there are bio-critical essays on more than 40 writers ranging from William Apes (who in the early 19th century denounced white society's treatment of his people) to contemporary poet Ray Young Bear.
Packed with information that was once scattered and scarce, the Handbook of Native American Literature -a valuable one-volume resource-is sure to appeal to everyone interested in Native American history, culture, and literature.
Previously published in cloth as The Dictionary of Native American Literature ... Read more

Book Description
Speak Like Singing focuses on select Native American writers showcasing the distinct voices and tribal diversities of living Indians. Through the pan-tribal medium of English, a second language for some and now a mother tongue for most, many of these Native writers begin as poets and go on to write novels. Pulitzer novelist and Kiowa poet N. Scott Momaday says, "I believe that a good many Indian writers rely upon a kind of poetic expression out of necessity, a necessary homage to the native tradition."

Black Elk remembers the wanekia or "make-live" prophet of his Lakota Ghost Dance vision "spoke like singing." The leaves, grasses, waters, leggeds, wingeds, and crawling beings all listened and danced. "They were better able now to see the greenness of the world," Black Elk says, after heyoka curing songs, "the wideness of the sacred day, the colors of the earth, and to set these in their minds." This book honors that talk-song vision for all relatives.

"Scholar, novelist, and essayist Ken Lincoln blends his fierce cultural commitments and propulsive, lyrical prose in page after page of this passionate yet reference-rich book, persuading us that native dream songs, ritual liturgies, trickster narratives, and modern novels deserve to sit at every table of American literature."--Peter Nabokov, author of Native American Testimony and Where Lightning Strikes

American Indian authors included:
Sherman Alexie
Sherwin Bitsui
Louise Erdrich
Joy Harjo
Linda Hogan
N. Scott Momaday
Greg Sarris
Leslie Silko
Luci Tapahonso
James Welch

Speak Like Singing honors talk-song visions for all relatives and seeks to plumb, if not to reconcile, Native and American poetics, tribal chorus and solitary vision. ... Read more

Book Description
Loyalty to the community is the highest value in Native American cultures, argues Jace Weaver. In That the People Might Live, he explores a wide range of Native American literature from 1768 to the present, taking this sense of community as both a starting point and a lens.Weaver considers some of the best known Native American writers, such as Leslie Marmon Silko, Gerald Vizenor, and Vine Deloria, as well as many others who are receiving critical attention here for the first time. He contends that the single thing that most defines these authors' writings, and makes them deserving of study as a literature separate from the national literature of the United States, is their commitment to Native community and its survival. He terms this commitment "communitism"--a fusion of "community" and "activism." The Native American authors are engaged in an ongoing quest for community and write out of a passionate commitment to it. They write, literally, "that the People might live."Drawing upon the best Native and non-Native scholarship (including the emerging postcolonial discourse), as well as a close reading of the writings themselves, Weaver adds his own provocative insights to help readers to a richer understanding of these too often neglected texts. A scholar of religion, he also sets this literature in the context of Native cultures and religious traditions, and explores the tensions between these traditions and Christianity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Some Basic Truths
Jace Weaver's contribution to Native American Literary criticism ismonumental.The introduction to So That The People Might Live is not onlyinformative but also pushes, explores, and expands upon what scholarlyinformation is currently available regarding Native American writers andtheir literary contributions.Mr. Weaver speaks about some basic truthsregarding Native American communities and these communities' connections toa Native American author's writing.Essentially he says "I amWe"--A native person's sense of identity and/or responsibility towardwriting, anything, is wrapped up in that persons individual as well ascommunal identity.Althoughan author may be writing as an individuals/he is always aware of his/her greater identity.

The chapters thatfollow Mr. Weaver's introduction rehash some familiar ground but hisinformation and diligent research is apparant and is, to a great extent,relevent as well as illuminating.All in all this book is definately worththe read and the buy for those who are serious about Native AmericanLiterature. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Wind Speaker, published by Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta (AMMSA) on November 1, 1996. The length of the article is 601 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Handbook of Native American literature.
Publication: Wind Speaker (Newsletter)
Date: November 1, 1996
Publisher: Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta (AMMSA)
Volume: 14Issue: 7Page: 11

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Christianity and Literature, published by Conference on Christianity and Literature on March 22, 2004. The length of the article is 1744 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: American Lazarus: Religion and the Rise of African-American and Native American Literatures.(Book Review)
Author: Walter A. Hesford
Publication: Christianity and Literature (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2004
Publisher: Conference on Christianity and Literature
Volume: 53Issue: 3Page: 411(4)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

Glencoe's new collection of ethnic anthologies gives students access to a wealth of literature written by some of the best classic authors and the finest contemporary voices. Each anthology, organized thematically into five relevant themes, combines literature and art as powerful expressions of the group's cultural story. Glencoe Native American Literature features the works of writers like William Least Heat-Moon, Leslie Marmon Silko, Michael Dorris, N. Scott Momaday, and many more!