recommend some books

[Joe's Dad]

lol Now go back and read it once or twice more to get a better understanding.

[SuzzeQ4]

anything by Drew Hayden Taylor. He is so funny and when it comes to whats in a bookstore it is nice to remember what a great sense of humour our people have. My kids are reading the books by Luther Standing Bear for English.

[RDNKJ]

I just finished On the Rez by Ian Frazier not too long ago. I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style. I've recommended the book to a number of people, specifically for the chapters about Su Ann Big Crow.

Although I wonder what y'all (esp. those of you from Pine Ridge) thought about the book.

Another good book is Arts of Diplomacy: Lewis & Clark's Indian Collection by Castle McLaughlin. If you're interested in material culture, it is fascinating.

[milehighsalute]

The Broken Circle: A True Story of Murder and Magic in Indian Country
by Rodney Barker

In 1974, three white high school students were were charged with the murders of two Indians in New Mexico. The crime became nationally renowned after the militant wing of the Navajo nation interpreted the slayings as an example of racial prejudice. This work is a revealing portrait of the way Indians and Anglos live together today.

read this book around 15yrs ago....i have it....good read

[Spiritflight]

Hanta Yo

I wonder if anyone ever read the book Hanta Yo by Ruth Beebe Hill and what do you think of it?

About Ruth Beebe Hill
Hill, Ruth Beebe - Ohio Authors - Ohio Center for the Book

[OLChemist]

Somehow, with college and my parents living and working in Spain, I missed the firestorm Hanta Yo had ignited back home during its initial release. So, one the summer in the early 80's when I was stuck in Heathrow airport for a day and half, with only the selection of paperbacks in the airport newsstand, I unknowingly bought the ponderous tome and read the whole thing. I was in my angry, activist phase back then. I tortured anyone who made the mistake of sitting next to me with my opinions on the passages I had just read:) I will do so again.

For the moment, we'll ignore the odd, Tonto-esque dialogue, and the much disputed tale that it was written in a ancient form of Dakota, then translated into English. Or her claims we didn't have the concepts of "forgive", "doubt", "we" or a handful of other intellectual tricks of which we were apparently incapable, until the nice people from Europe taught us how.

The author did do her homework. If you are even passingly familiar with the ethnographic literature on the Lakota and Dakota, you will be able to point to specific sources for various aspects of Lakota ceremonial ritual and social organization she describes. All some sections needed were footnotes to the references. This certainly lends the tale a patina of authenticity.

But, the storyline grossly distorts Lakota culture. From the ritualization of certain sex acts -- acts which violated the powerful, traditional standards of modesty -- to characters acting total defiance of standards of kinship behavior to outright sacrilege, Lakota culture is twisted.

The combination makes it a dangerous book. It is like teaching a child 1+1=2, 2+2=4, 3+3=7

But Drs DeMaille, Medicine, Douville, and Deloria give Hanta Yo its much deserved trouncing far better than I can.

SAIL Reviews of Hanta Yo


Mother Jones Review of Hanta Yo

[bubzbeez]

Thanks for the recommendations. I am having a hard time finding good native american books myself.

[bubzbeez]

Perhaps someone could compile and curate Native American stories and poems through a website? I have found some but many websites don't seem to be complete.

To get started, maybe someone here in the community can create a free website on hpage.com ( https://www.hpage.com)? Then gather all the poems and stories in this forum to a website?

Just a suggestion.

[Chalako]

Lakota noon by Gregory F. Michno.

Alaska, Centennial and Texas by James A. Michener.