Genocide of the mind New Native American writing

Review by Booklist Review

Addressing the genocide of Native American cultural identity over the past 100 years, this collection of 35 essays by authors representing more than 25 tribal nations is at once eye-opening, brutally frank, and ultimately optimistic. Established writers such as Paula Gunn Allen, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Maurice Kenny, along with a host of emerging writers, teachers, poets, students, and visual artists, have come together, brilliantly elucidating the overlapping causes of the disappearance of tribal identity. These include the move by 60 percent of Native Americans to urban areas, the dissipation of Native languages, gradual assimilation into the non-Native society and the resulting mixed parentage of many young Native Americans, and media stereotyping and its concomitant racism. Every reader will feel a call to action after finishing this informative volume, whether he or she is a non-Native who realizes the need for the banning of Indian sports mascots or a Native moved to dedicate more time to passing on tribal language and tradition to the next generation. --Deborah Donovan Copyright 2003 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Library Journal Review

Moore, a Cherokee whose works include Spirit Voices of Bones, describes this anthology as "a testament to American Indian consciousness continuing to circulate, regardless of past or present genocidal attempts, whether cerebral, endemic, systematic, or otherwise." The book is divided into five sections-"Keeping the Home Fires Burning in Urban Circles," "American Indian Youth: The Need To Reclaim Identity," "Native Languages: Where Will They Go From Here?" "Indians as Mascots: An Issue To Be Resolved," and "Who We Are, Who We Are Not: Memories, Misconceptions and Modifications." The 33 essays are a stark and direct rendering of the Indian experience in this century and the way it is shaped by whites. For example, in "Invisible Emblems: Empty Words, and Sacred Honor," Steve Russell writes, "From Indian mascots to the Nuager Clan of the Great Wanabi Nation, the yonega (whites) are fascinated with connecting to Indians, Indians understood in some bizarre sense that escapes most of us." The contributors are from different Indian nations and include both well-known and emerging writers. Recommended for all libraries with Native American collections.-Sue Samson, Univ. of Montana, Missoula (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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