From Library Journal
Tired of living in the margin at mainstream literary conferences, a group of Native writers began to talk of an "international gathering of Native writers." The 1992 "Returning the Gift Festival" was the cumulation of this ten-year dream. Almost 400 Native writers and Native students (offered scholarships through the festival) attended the four-day event, coming from throughout the United States and Canada, as well as from Mexico, Panama, Cuba, and Peru. This showcase represents new, original work from the participants of that gathering. Although the stories and poems presented here cover a variety of themes and styles, several of the writers addressed the empowerment derived from surrounding themselves with other writers from Native cultures. They were not, as Kimberly M. Blaeser addressed in a poem, "Exhibit A No B, no C, just solitary romanticized A." This collection presents some of the best known Native writers, and a host of new voices to be alert for.
Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati Technical Coll.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
It was Akwesasne Mohawk chief Tom Porter who articulated the Native American ethic after which this collection is named: Native American writers take the gift of story from their people and then, in crafting it into fiction and poetry, return that gift. The 1992 gathering from which this collection draws its contents hosted hundreds of participants who represented Native American peoples from Mexico, Central America, and Canada as well as the U.S., including Hawaii. The richness and variety of this writing--especially the new authors' writing--are stunning. Particularly noteworthy are Sherman Alexie's haunting, jazzy prose poem on urban life and interracial love; Raven Hail's call for the return of the goddess to her indigenous people; and Roberta Hill Whiteman's poetic reparations to the spirit of a road-maimed deer. The authoritative voices of the quite well known--for example, Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, and Simon Ortiz--blend with but never overshadow the rest. An excellent, readable, exciting anthology.
Pat Monaghan
