The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote

The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote

Pages: 208

Rating: 3 out of 5

A collection of writings about Native American life in the contemporary world. The mixed-genre works find unifying themes in the strength of kinship, the ache of longing, and the language of return. A formally inventive, witty, and generous, the works in this collection draw on Indigenous aesthetics and forms to offer a powerful, vision of Native American life in modern America.

Non-Fiction Reads

Beyond Death by Bernardo T. Arriaza

So, I recently heard about the Chinchorro mummies from reading an article about how they are rapidly decaying due to global warming. I thought I'd learn more about them and I found this book. This is one of the oldest recorded mummy cultures in the world (even older than Egyptian mummies!) and their methods are bizarre-they'd actually take the body apart, wrap the bones in clay, prop them up with sticks, paste the skin back on and add a face mask. This is all done so that they can continue to interact with their relatives, even after death. Gruesome, yet fascinating.

176 pages

Radium Girls by Kate Moore

 

What happened to these girls is shocking. Imagine getting a great job with tons of perks painting watch dials, only to find out months or even years later that the paint is radioactive and is slowly killing you. The way they fought for their rights and protections, even on their deathbeds, is awe-inspiring. 

479 pages

#NotYourPrincess by Mary Beth Leatherdale and Lisa Charleyboy (ed.)

This is a really cool collection of poems, stories and art from Indigenous women in the US and Canada. It's done by the same style as Dreaming in Indian (which I also recommend!) It's a unique look into the lives and experiences of Native Women. 

Read Harder Challenge #1

109 pages

The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote

This debut collection is a mix of short stories, poems, and a play. I liked the blend of historical and present day stories. I loved the Native American retelling of Antigone! Overall, this was a great book and I will keep an eye out for this author in the future.

Read Harder Challenge #6

208 pages

Historical Fiction Reads

It's been a while since I posted anything, so I'll try to catch up on what I've read the past several weeks!


Flight of the Hawk: The Plains by W. Michael Gear

The second book in the series, Where Tylor leaves the Missouri River to set off into the plains, still running from the bounty on his head. I didn't like this one as much. It was a lot of descriptions of grass, and not the actual story didn't pick up until the very end. The introduction of Native American characters made it feel more like the Gears' People books, which is not what I was looking for in this one. Still, I enjoyed the return of McKeever.

281 pages




People of the Fire by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear

I've been enjoying these books. They are a bit predictable, but I enjoy reading about the way Native Americans lived. I love the fact that this series is written by an archaeologist couple, and you can definitely tell they've done the research and been on the digs. The final scene with the wildfire is excellent! This is a fun escapist read to America's distant past.

480 pages




The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

More of an alternative history novel, as the main characters use magic conduction, but still a solid depiction of the bigotry of southern aristocracy and injustice of slavery. Definitely check out the audiobook of this one, because the reader is amazing! He even sings the work songs, which saves me the trouble of looking them up on Youtube. I love historical fiction, because it leads me to look up and learn about history I didn't know about.

403 pages

Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener

I remember reading this one in middle school, but I did NOT pick up on half the history or the adult references as I did this time around. This book is so good, I felt like I was actually touring around the Pacific Islands alongside these men. Michener does a great job at depicting the boredom of officers, the interactions with islanders, and of course, the horrors of war-which makes sense, I suppose, since he lived it. I feel like too many novels about WWII focus on the European theater, so it's nice to get the other perspective. A true masterpiece!

384 pages



P.S. Did you know atabrine (the yellow malaria tablets passed out by Atabrine Benny) is closely related to chloroquine?

Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

Another excellent collection of poetry from Joy Harjo. You can really hear the music of blues, jazz and stomp dances come through in her lyrics. Harjo does a great job of treating dark subjects with honesty but also hope. I'm enjoying her works more and more.

If you enjoy poetry (or think you do not enjoy poetry), you should read Joy Harjo-she is amazing!

139 pages

An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo

What a powerful collection of poetry. Joy reflects on her ancestral history, including the forced exile and genocide of her people, as well as revisiting her family's lands. Her word choice is beautiful and precise, reflecting both her spirituality and her convictions.

Brilliant poetry. There is a reason she is the new Poet Laureate of the United States.

116 pages

Read Harder Challenge Task #24

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

Pluto, North Dakota, is a white town on the edge of an Ojibwe reservation. Like many small towns, the town is  dying. Evelina, a girl of mixed Indian and white descent, belongs to a 'BIA' family. She likes to listen to her grandfather's family stories, from whom she learns about the town’s long, bloody history, including the slaughter of a white farm family and the hanging of innocent Native Americans unfairly targeted as the perpetrators of the crime.

Descendants of both the victims and the lynching party intermarry, creating a tangled history. The consequences are still being felt by the community and the reservation, even after many generations.
Three narrator tell the collective stories of two interwoven communities, which ultimately come together to reveal a final wrenching truth.


324 pages

#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy

#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to love this one, especially after hearing about it from the author/editor in a webinar. Unfortunately, I found the format off-putting and could not really connect to any message or emotion from this collection. It feels very random, poorly arranged, and incomplete to me. There's no flow between pages and submissions that makes any sort of sense to me, or conveys any sort of theme or emotion, which was disappointing.

I wanted it to feel rich, emotional, creative, and to leave me with some strong feelings and impressions about Native American Women. Instead, it fell flat for me, and I confess, I was glad when I reached the end. There's just not enough depth here, and the format/presentation definitely leaves something to be desired.

I especially hate the quotes, which are printed with small words paired with enormously fat words (randomly selected in a way that doesn't even feel meaningful), all on top of a background of more faded words. If you have any difficulty with reading or vision, that's going to be a struggle for you. To me, it was not a struggle to read the words so much as it was a huge distraction that took away from the quotes having any impact of making any impression on me. It felt like a frustration to just read through the words, so I took very little meaning from the actual quotes and just read them like it was a chore that I had to complete.

Since I'm not a Native American Women, I can't speak to how well this truly does or does not represent those voice. I can say that I'm uncertain what the messages are supposed to be, and there's just a ton of context missing for me. It's possible that without that context, I just don't understand this work, which is sad, as I was so excited to read and experience this one.

I give it 3 stars in honor of those who contributed their art, words, photographs, and experiences for this volume, but my overall interest and enjoyment level is more at two stars. And if I were pointing to Native American representation and voices, I would probably search long and hard for other/ better options before recommending this one to others.

Pages: 109

My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson

My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really love the setting and diversity of this story, especially as I have an interest in Barrow, Alaska and the Inupiat (for various reasons), and therefore, I have done quite a bit of research on that region and the people who live there.

The format of the story itself just never really came together for me, so I don't love the storyline, even though I really was interested in the characters, setting, and history. I stuck around for the unique setting and diverse perspectives, not the meandering plot and random story structure.

Pages: 248

Flight by Sherman Alexie

Flight by Sherman Alexie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The concept is unusual but fascinating, and the story really makes you think. It's a bit frantic, or maybe chaotic, at times, but that's part of the charm and voice.

The audiobook version narrated by Adam Beach is excellent. I think I like this story even better due to the narrator, than I might have if I had just read it myself. The delivery is spot on.

Pages: 181

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

This covers U.S. history over the years against Native Americans with destruction of whole societies and misuse of Indian funds. In the 50s and 60s there were relocation centers. In 1972, a meeting of 75 nations was locked in a fed building with all the information about the years of extermination of Indian tribes by the U.S. government.  They read it and published it.

Audio:  11 hrs. 22 min.

Print:  312 pages

The Valiant Women by Jeanne Williams

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

A romantic saga set in Arizona territory with action featuring Apache, Mexico, and Texas territory before the Civil War and many families and plots. 

Audio:  15 hrs. 55 min.

Print:  516 pages

The Moor's Account, By Laila Lalami

When one studies the history of North America, the most common telling begins on the Eastern seaboard with the English settlers, however, the Spanish were among the first European adventurers to explore the North, Central, and South American continents, and among them were most certainly enslaved Africans.  Laila Lalami presents the imagined memoirs of the first black explorer of America: Mustafa al-Zamori, called Estebanico. The slave of a Spanish conquistador, Estebanico sails for the Americas with his master, Dorantes, as part of a danger-laden expedition to Florida. Within a year, Estebanico is one of only four crew members to survive. It is an engrossing tale that gives a voice to one of the millions who have previously had no names, no culture, no voice.

As he journeys across America with his Spanish companions, the Old World roles of slave and master fall away, and Estebanico remakes himself as an equal, a healer, and a remarkable storyteller. His tale illuminates the ways in which our narratives can transmigrate into history—and how storytelling can offer a chance at redemption and survival.
336 pages

Promise Canyon by Robyn Carr

Posted for Diann Stark

Audio Reading time: 9 hours, 46 minutes. 352 pages

Clay Tahoma is known as a horse whisper, he is now Virgin River's new veterinary assistant. He loves the area, it reminds him of his Navajo roots and he's been welcomed everyone in town, except Lilly Yazhi.

Lilly is Hopi, and she has had her share of strong, silent, traditional men within her own aboriginal community, and she's not interested in coming back for more. She doesn’t trust Clay, she also can't deny his gift for gentling horses, but she's not about to let him control her. There's just one small problem—she can't control her attraction to Clay. Clay proves to her that he wants an equal, not someone to control. As Clay and Lilly are trying to figure out their attraction to one another it seems there are some interesting things going on in town.  Hope McCrea, the town busybody, suddenly dies and bequeaths her entire, extremely sizable legacy to the town, naming Jack Sheridan as executor. Suddenly Virgin River’s residents become very greedy and Jack sees a new side to the town.

The Round House by Louise Edrich

Looking back, Joe Coutts, an Ojibwe lawyer, recalls the summer of his 13th year. He was the only child of the tribal judge and tribal clerk of the Ojibwe nation; a beloved child in a warm and happy family. Until his mother is raped, and the brutal rapist attempts to kill her. Although she escapes, she cannot recover from the experience, never leaving her bedroom. The lives of the entire family are disrupted.

Joe becomes obsessed with getting his mother "back," determined to find and punish the rapist on his own. He is scared and angry, and wants revenge. Joe and his friends start playing detective, though his father, wanting to protect him as much as possible, tries to warn him away. The rapist is identified, but the location of the rape on the reservation means that tribal courts are in charge, but Caucasians cannot be prosecuted.

Though this is a crime story, it also is a search for justice, and an examination of life on the reservation. The land can no long support them, and the culture has been compromised as they have been forced to live in the confines of the reservation .Legal jurisdiction over crimes involving Native Americans now involves tribal officials, state police, and even the FBI. It is a labyrinth of tangled laws and jurisdictions, and Joe decides to take matters into his own hands.

A powerful novel.

Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

American history around the 19^th-century. A book that focuses on mountain Kit Carson who ended the Navajo and Comanche wars. He was in the army when there was a war with Mexico over the New Mexico, Arizona territory. 

Audio:  20 hours 52 min.

Print:  624 pages.