Songs from an Outcast

By John E. Smelcer, 2000. In these poems, written in the Ahtna language and then rendered into memorable English, John Smelcer conveys a strong sense of his ancestry (Cherokee/Ahtna), what poet Denise Levertov calls “his constant haunting awareness of indigenous life so grievously wounded yet still alive.” Smelcer speaks from the Alaskan landscape, for the … Read more

Migration Tears

By Michael Kabotie (Lomawywesa), 1987. Michael Kabotie or Lomawywesa, son of the artist Fred Kabotie, was born in 1942 at Shungopavi. He is of the Hopi Sinnum, Water/Snow clan, and he is a painter, lithographer, serigrapher, goldsmith and silversmith. In this book of poetry he recreates Hopi traditions for modern Indians in bold, traditional strokes. … Read more

Comeuppance at Kicking Horse Casino and Other Stories

By Charles Brashear, 2000. Brashear`s collection of short stories addresses American Indian-white contact throughout the history of North America. Several of the stories involve mixed bloods, products of Indian-white marriages, a situation that nearly always generates divided loyalties and identity crises. Each story highlights an individual`s quandary—and often alienation—in negotiating and adapting to a face-to-face … Read more

Cedar Smoke on Abalone Mountain

By Norla Chee, 2001. This collection of thirty-seven poems seamlessly weaves the spiritual with the daily and the present with the past. Chee`s poetry as song and story is a mix of Navajo, which is her cultural heritage, and the “Other,” as indicated by non-Navajo customs, ideas, and experiences. She utilizes this comparison to bring … Read more