A professor submitted a passage on Native American literature for the reading comprehension section of a postgraduate standardized test. The passage (reproduced in full) points out the difficult questions that Native American literature poses about personal identity. The passage was rejected as potentially disturbing to Native American test…

"Arrest Sitting Bull," a novel written by Douglas C. Jones that relates the personal stories of individuals involved in the military and the political domination of the Sioux Indian during the period leading to the Sitting Bull killing is described. The incessant quest to establish and maintain control and the integral roles played by fear and…

It would seem that in spite of the influx of Native literatures that evidence vibrant Native identities and perspectives, there are still those who would claim that Natives have vanished. The "vanishing Native" in current scholarship emerges from the idea that there is no such thing as a "pure" Indian identity, or the surprisingly widely accepted…

"House Made of Dawn" by N. Scott Momaday is about language and the sacredness of the word and about what can be understood as a peculiarly Native American theory of rhetoric. All things are hinged to the physical landscape, nature, and the implications nature bears upon language. In Momaday's book, language does not represent external…

American Indian narrative uses a rhetorical conception of narrative action, following one of two basic types of recurrent formal pattern of lines and verses and sets of verses, in pairs and fours or threes and fives, using pauses and/or syntactic particles to define the patterning, varying between different languages. (MH)

Presented are a wide variety of current and older titles that teachers and students can use to better understand Native Americans. The following are included in the bibliography: planning aids, music, poetry, art, and fiction. (KC)

Provides an annotated list of resources for a unit on American Indian myths and legends. All of the listed materials were written by American Indian authors, set down in print as told by various tribal story tellers, or gathered by respected authorities on the American Indian. (MKM)

Tayo's war experiences have destroyed his reverence for the creatures of nature. His changed attitude of respect for animals, his acceptance of their apparently evil acts, and his imitation of them indicate his healing. By observing animals, Tayo learns what to accept and what to reject for his survival. (CM)

All stories, ceremonies, and rituals are attempts to confer "totality" or structure on experience; ordinarily unrelated objects and events are given definite connection. In "Ceremony," the disjointed parts are refocused through the traditional hoop symbol and converge in a circular pattern of restoration and genuine renewal.…

This article examines Surrealism, its definition, and history through example. Special emphasis is on James Welch, a Blackfeet poet from Montana with a comic way of viewing the world in a surrealistic fashion. (RTS)

Suggests that "contact" between mainstream American culture and northern Plains Indian cultures is a communication process with historical and ongoing parameters. Presents examples of adaptations to new situations and new neighbors in the creation stories and contemporary songs of the Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara peoples. Contains 17…

This interview with Chickasaw novelist and poet Linda Hogan discusses creativity and the composing process, her new novel "Mean Spirit," the complications of identity and personal history for two female mixed-blood writers (interviewer and interviewee), and how considerations of audience impact (or shouldn't impact) American Indian writers. (SV)

Argues that it is useful to broaden students' horizons by exposing them to the rich folk heritage of many ethnic groups. Discusses resources and class activities which encompass Native American, Black American, and Asian mythology and folktales. (RS)

Outlines the Laguna (Pueblo) symbolic geography or world view as it is woven into Leslie Silko's novel "Ceremony." Explains the protagonist's spiritual journey toward health and harmony in terms of symbols and beliefs in Laguna mythology. Contains 21 references. (SV)

Traces the history of the Chippewa tribe of Turtle Mountain Reservation, and relates it to Louise Erdrich's fictional depiction of assimilation over four generations. Discusses the French heritage of reservation families; development of Michif, a mixture of Cree and French; and effects of land allotment and BIA schooling. (SV)