The Nature of Native American Poetry

by Norma Wilson

The beginning of the twenty-first century marks the maturation of the voices of indigenous poets in the United States. Norma Wilson's appealing and accessible collection of essays is both an introduction to and an enthusiastic celebration of the poetic vistas inhabited by modern Native American writers. Wilson's scope is both broad and specific as she draws from contemporary criticism, tribal histories and folklore, interviews with writers, and, of course, from the poetry itself. Her study is firmly grounded in the oral traditions and personal and tribal histories of the eight poets on whom she focuses--Carter Revard, N. Scott Momaday, Simon Ortiz, Lance Henson, Roberta Hill, Linda Hogan, Wendy Rose, and Joy Harjo. A final chapter on the "new generation" considers younger poets such as Sherman Alexie, Cheryl Savageau, Tiffany Midge, and Elizabeth Woody, among others. At the same time, Wilson's broad understanding of the literary heritage of East, West, and First nations allows her to place Native American poetry in global and historical context. Wilson points out Native American writers have been influenced by such well-known Western "canon" poets as Blake, Whitman, and Ginsberg. Her study further elucidates the clear mark that Native American literature, culture, and oral-poetic traditions have left on five centuries of British and American literature. The Nature of Native American Poetry is a guidebook mapping the modern rhythms of our ancient literary landscape.

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is composed of short essays, including brief biographical information, on Native American poets, many of whom I didn't know anything about (Carter Revard, Lance Henson, Roberta Hill, Linda Hogan and Wendy Rose), as well as two whose work I knew glancingly--Simon Ortiz and Joy Hargo--and N. Scott Momaday, whose books I admired when young and who I once saw lecture.

In person, Momaday was reserved and memorably funny, telling a great story about when he met Georgia O'Keefe and an even greater one about a visit he made to a grade school class. He said something to the effect of "this is a story about when dogs could talk", to which one little girl replied--an Momaday used a perfect little girl voice--"Those were the days!"

One can guess what the overarching themes are--connection to the land and dismay over its treatment, family and identity, and of course sorrow over history of what happened. But rather than being distracted by the repetition I found that the poetry invigorating over all. The details of biography. themes and careers helped, but so did the attention to rhythm among the individual poets.

[ASC Library]

811.5 Wil