This abstract is from the cover of the book.
American Book Award winner Maurice Kenny, a major voice in Native American literature, has long been known for his poetry. A true storyteller in the native tradition, he has in recent years turned his voice to prose, both fiction and non-fiction. In this diverse collection he writes of such little-known and controversial issues as the gay tradition in Native American history and looks at how his Mohawk background has impacted his own life and writing.
The first section of the book shows us what is seldom found in books: history from a Native American vantage point. Here we meet Black Charlotte, a woman who loomed so large in the old West that it's almost impossible to believe she simply disappeared back into the East's white society. Here, too, are Jack Smith, the young half-breed whose claim to land at the site of present-day Denver probably played a major role in his murder; Yellow Wolf, who hoped to ensure the survival of his people by turning to farming; and Roman Nose, the brilliant and spiritual warrior who saw war as the only way to save his people and his home.
In the book's second part, Kenny delves into how Native Americans have fared in literature through the years, both as subjects and as authors. Beginning with an essay on the importance of the Native AMerican oral tradition and of cultural roots, the section ends with Kenny's reverent hymn to his own roots and to the homeland to which he returned after years as a Mohawk poet on the road.
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