From Publishers Weekly
Historically, Native American storytelling has been an oral tradition, but this eclectic collection of 30 short stories by Native Americans is a promising addition to the tribes' growing written literature. "Words and stories free you so that you might know your own long shadows," says Agnes Yellowknee, a tribal librarian in the short story Trafzer created to serve as introduction. With varying degrees of skill, the contributors here describe those shadows-shadows of witches, tricksters, spirits, ghosts or of Native Americans dealing with sometimes gritty contemporary life. The stories range from Gerald Vizenor's "Oshkiwiinag: Heartlines on the Trickster Express," about a dentist whose office is a railroad car, to Anita Endrezze's "Darlene and the Dead Man," in which two sisters have a humorous encounter with a man anxious to quit this life so he can be reborn as a horse. Gloria Bird's "Rocking in the Pink Light" eloquently describes a mother's feelings toward her newborn son, while Richard Green's "A Jingle for Silvy" and Jason Edwards's "Dreamland" are moving tributes to friendship lost and found. Except for Vizenor and a few others, the authors are emerging talents who have been published in small and literary magazines.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This work presents 30 original short stories by Native American writers. Editor Trafzer (The Nez Perce: Northwest, Chelsea House, 1994) sets the stage in his introduction, itself an imaginative short story?an account of a visit with Agnes Yellowknee, who runs the tribal library out of her home in a tree on the reservation. Agnes provides a colorful introduction to the stories in this collection and gives Native American literature great acclaim. Most of the writers here are unknown to general readers; they are mainly younger writers just finding their voices, with a few who have been around for a while without finding a huge audience. Some stories are comic, while others are quite serious. They tell of despair and triumph, of what it means to be Native American after 500 years of submission to another culture. Some characters turn their backs on the old ways, while others seek to bring more of their heritage into their daily lives. It is a good assortment, recommended to Native American collections, as well as to general readers wanting a slice of life that is different from their own.?Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati Technical Coll.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
