Vizenor's classic first book provides a unique view of reservation
life in the late 1960s and early 1970s and the early days of the
American Indian Movement.
Gerald Vizenor, named to Utne Reader's list of one hundred "people who
could change your life," has been a significant force in Native American
literature and criticism for decades. In this, his classic first book of
essays, Vizenor presents a stark but vital view of reservation life in
the late 1960s and early 1970s, a collection that Studies in American
Indian Literatures called "memorable portraits of real people who
defied yet finally were overcome by the dominant society."
Focusing on the people of the northern reservations, particularly the
White Earth Reservation where he grew up, Vizenor puts a human face on
those desperate and politically charged times that saw frequent
government intervention and the emergence of the American Indian
Movement (AIM). In his trademark style, Vizenor juxtaposes these
snapshots of contemporary life against images and dream sequences from
Anishinabe folktales and ceremonies. As the Chronicle of Higher
Education has observed, Vizenor's "paradoxical achievement has been to
garner a reputation as an innovative avant-garde writer by embracing,
and revitalizing, ancient oral storytelling traditions."
In an introduction composed especially for this edition, Vizenor
reflects on the changes that occurred on the reservations in the
previous decades and updates the lives of this fascinating and various
cast of characters.
