The Native American's daily life was a walk with supernatural happenings, directed by the power of the Great Spirit. An important experience for a young man was the vision-search. Fortunate youths had a personal encounter with the Great Spirit and received evidence of a special ally or spirit-brother. At the same time, the individual might receive…

James Welch's "Winter in the Blood" (1974) and "The Death of Jim Loney" (1979) are excellent examples of work that remains essentially misunderstood throughout some three decades of interpretation. Attempts to define these two books in terms of mainstream modernism notwithstanding, they represent a phenomenon not unlike aspects of American folk…

This book is an introduction to the literature and art of American writer N. Scott Momaday, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize and member of the Kiowa American Indian Tribe. The book describes the impact of Momaday's family, Kiowa heritage, Pueblo cultural experiences, and academic preparation on his worldview, poetry, novels, essays, children's…

Suggests an approach to teaching American Indian literatures that focuses on origins and authorship of Indian (and by extension, non-Indian) works. Discusses the collaboration of numerous historical and personal voices in contemporary Indian works and the influence of an oral performance context. Contains a bibliography of 55 works. (SV)

Beidler defends "The Crown of Columbus" against criticisms of its best-seller qualities and applauds its universality, playfulness, and thought-provoking qualities. Hoy views the novel as revisionist history contained within a seemingly frivolous narrative, a polyvocal protean voyage of discovery with humor and self-referentiality as its…

In the novel Ceremony, Tayo suffers from flawed psychological vision, mainly as a result of being contaminated by certain preconceptions that he, like most Americans, has acquired from the social environment. In the beginning of the novel, Tayo suffers from physiological eyestrain.

Quilts have become a part of American Indian culture, and they are mentioned and even highlighted in certain works of contemporary Native American literature. Certain questions can be posed in regard to the inclusion of quilt references in contemporary American Indian novels. Do the quilts and the making of quilts have some type of metaphorical…

The Cheyenne version of how bones appeared in High Plains country streams, is detailed in this legend of fifty young men, a turtle and death. (RTS)

Reviews life and literature of Zitkala Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin), Sioux Indian born in 1876 on Yankton Reservation (South Dakota), educated at Quaker schools and Earlham College (Indiana), accomplished orator, author of autobiographical essays and short stories, worker for Indian reform, lecturer, and founder of National Council of American…

The origin of the Big Dipper is described in this Canadian Indian legend. (RTS)

This delightful American Indian legend describes a meeting between a mountain lion, numerous domesticated cats, and a small boy. (RTS)

Discusses academic arguments over definitions of "trickster," who intrinsically disrupts classifications of any kind. Focuses on trickster's reemergence (particularly as female) in contemporary native American literature, which merges verbal art and tribal traditions with Anglo text forms to create a liminal literary space ideal for…

Reviews a volume of 21 interviews with American Indian poets focusing on the issues of the new role of women in Native American poetry; the tension of two cultures, particularly for half-breeds; and cultural, national, and personal survival. The book includes a poem by each poet, with commentaries. (SV)

Describes the storytelling program at the Department of American Indian Studies, San Diego State University, which has involved Indian elders and storytellers, students, and both Indian and non-Indian children and adults from the local community. Includes a Wyandot tale that warns against jealousy, bitterness, and revenge. (SV)

Traces the development of Native American literatures as following a pattern of cultural revitalization. Examines how these literatures are being incorporated into the national literary canon and subjected to institutionalized domination at the same time that they are serving as a vehicle for indigenous political resistance and revitalization. (SV)