- Hardcover: 152 pages
- Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (Nov 1 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0803222947
- ISBN-13: 978-0803222946
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13 x 1.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"The Nebraska Dispatches refrains from bravado or overstatement; nevertheless, it is an intense and dynamic book. Cartmill is expert at relating his own story and just enough information about the Poncas, Standing Bear, and other Plains Indians. He intertwines these sagas to make them part of a larger story of America and how Americans connect to home. In the end, Cartmill proves Wolfe wrong. Not only can one go home again, but there can be much to be learned from the experience."—John Michael Senger, ForeWord Reviews
(John Michael Senger ForeWord Reviews )"Refined into a small book, the interplay of the mundane and the mysterious in Cartmill''s memories powerfully is affecting."—Nina Murray, Nebraska Life
(Nina Murray Nebraska Life )“Delightfully intimate yet soaringly ambitious, Christopher Cartmill’s lovely and lovingly told memoir of his journey through personal and national history is a fascinating meditation on the infinite meanings of home. This is a terrific nonfiction debut from a terrifically gifted writer.”—Adam Langer, author of Ellington Boulevard and My Father’s Bonus March
(Adam Langer )“It is not as a disinterested witness that Christopher Cartmill embarked on this extraordinary exploration, but as a passionate participant, often literally risking body and soul, with a clear eye, a probing intellect, and a compassionate and fearless heart. The result is a fascinating, and very moving, chronicle of his journey.”—Eva Rubinstein, actress and internationally acclaimed photographer
(Eva Rubinstsein )“The Nebraska Dispatches sensitively chronicles a time when paths crossed—when the past intertwined with the present and remade a future.”—Renee Sans Souci, Umonhon (Omaha) poet
(Renee Sans Souci )
Product Description
Standing Bear, a Ponca Native American chief, is best known for successfully arguing in U.S. District Court in 1879 that Native Americans are “persons within the meaning of the law” who have the right of habeas corpus.
When playwright Christopher Cartmill returned to his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, to write a play about Chief Standing Bear, he unknowingly began a complicated adventure. As he followed the story of the Ponca chief who fought so hard to return from a reservation in Oklahoma to his homeland in northern Nebraska, Cartmill stumbled into the politics of identity, contested notions of homeland, and his own past. Chronicling these adventures in a series of dispatches to friends, he documented the transformation of a research trip into a three-year exploration of Nebraska, its Native community, the meaning of home, and the complex relationship we all have with history. These dispatches, originally presented in Cartmill’s celebrated performance and now gathered together in this book, offer snapshots of a New Yorker’s travels into the heartland, insights into a very personal journey, and glimpses into a history that critiques and continues the American story.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended reading, Nov 11 2010
By Franke "wmfranke" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Nebraska Dispatches (Hardcover)
In this slim volume Cartmill manages to evoke the expansiveness of the American Midwest and the historically contentious relations between Native Americans and European Americans, while grappling with the responsibility of the artist to the story that may or may not be his to tell. The writing is breezily accessible and compelling (at times even suspenseful).
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasure drive through the plains, Aug 2 2011
By Yasmin H. McEwen "Wisdom falls in between the... - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Nebraska Dispatches (Hardcover)
This book is such an enjoyable read, I didn't want it to end; though, I do think the slim volume actually beckons the reader and is one of its main selling points. The only drawback is that some Native Americans may not feel that the author is qualified to write about Standing Bear. I am at odds with this notion. I think if a person has the heart and soul desire to believe in a subject and wants to learn sociologically about a subject and portray that subject, shed light on it and maybe even bring more awareness to it: in essence, bring on the sunlight, then my formal opinion is, why not? Then again, I'm also not Native American, so I don't have a right to say how a Native American would feel; and I also honor their feelings. Henceforth, a bit of a quagmire ensues.Climbing out of the quagmire:
One can easily get lost in the weather reports and chuckle at the side bar headings for each dispatch. The storyline of writing a play about Standing Bear --- coming home again, making connections and asking very many questions, such as: Where is home exactly? What are the requirements of being a native? What qualifies a person to write about other cultures? What if a person wants to leave home, do they still belong to that home anymore? (ref. Standing Bear's connection to Oklahoma)
Not only will Nebraskans, Native Americans ((hopefully)), benefit from reading this delightful collage of wandering thoughts and skyscapes; even city dwellers could find something enjoyable such as Susann's decision to pack up and leave the plains and head to Minneapolis while her family freaks out and the storm clouds throw in their own opinion on the matter. Hint: there is a warm summer breeze of spirituality rippling across the plains in this book as well that is truly welcoming.
Also enjoyable is the author's casual sense of humor for things that many people take for granted such as finding reverse on a stick shift. Which I found to be hilarious. Sentences are tightly woven with threads of hilarity mixed with midwest clarity; and I like that.
Hopefully, this book will sell. It most definitely deserves a place in the sun.
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