NATIVE VOICES Tupelo Press Anthologies
Another English: Anglophone Poems fom Around the World edited by Catherine Barnett and Tiphanie Yanique
Beyond Boundaries: Prose Poems by 24 American Poets edited by Ray Gonzalez Cooking with the Muse: A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry, and Literary Fare edited by Myra Kornfeld and Stephen Massimilla NATIVE VOICES A God in the House: Poets Talk About Faith Indigenous American Poetry, Craft and Conversations edited by Ilya Kaminsky and Katherine Towler
Gossip & Metaphysics: Russian Modernist Poems and Prose edited by Katie Farris, Ilya Kaminsky, and Valzhyna Mort
Te Imaginary Poets edited by edited by Alan Michael Parker CMarie Fuhrman and Dean Rader
Native Voices: Indigenous American Poetry, Craf and Conversation edited by CMarie Fuhrman and Dean Rader
New Cathay: Contemporary Chinese Poetry edited by Ming Di
Xeixa: Fourteen Catalan Poets edited by Marlon Fick and Francisca Esteve
Tupelo Press North Adams, Massachusetts Native Voices. Introductions and compiliation copyright © 2o19 ______. All rights reserved. Copyrights for works by anthology contributors are retained by these authors or their previous publishers; see page __ for permission citations; those listings represent an extension of the copyright notifcation provided on this page. isbn 978-1-946482-18-1 Designed and composed in Birch Standard and Garamond by Howard Klein. Cover art by Laura Calhoun, designed by Diana Walczak. Copyright © 2o17. Used with permission of the artist. for Adrian C. Louis, 1946–2o18 First paperback edition: [April 2o19].
Te sources of the book’s epigraphs are: Joy Harjo, from Crazy Brave: A Memoir (W.W. Norton, 2o12); Simon J. Ortiz, from Afer and Before the Lightning (University of Arizona Press, 1994); Adrian C. Louis, from the essay “Of Craf, Cub Scouts, Mayonnaise, and ufos,” in this anthology.
Other than brief excerpts for reviews and commentaries, no part of this book may be reproduced “It is amazing how much knowledge we have of hope. by any means without permission of the publisher. Please address requests for reprint permission or for course-adoption discounts to: Whisper bravely into the dark, heart—whisper bravely.” —Simon J. Ortiz
Tupelo Press “‘You’re coming with me, poor thing. You don’t know how to listen. P.O. Box 1767, 243 Union Street, Eclipse Mill, Lof 3o5 You don’t know how to speak. You don’t know how to sing. I will teach you.’ North Adams, Massachusetts o1247 (413) 664-9611 / [email protected] / www.tupelopress.org I followed poetry.” —Joy Harjo
Tupelo Press is an award-winning independent literary press that publishes fne fction, “Poetry is art, period.” —Adrian C. Louis nonfction, and poetry in books that are a joy to hold as well as read. Tupelo Press is a registered 5o1(c)(3) nonproft organization, and we rely on public support to carry out our mission of publishing extraordinary work that may be outside the realm of large commercial publishers. Financial donations are welcome and are tax deductible.
Produced with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and with contributions from enthusiastic and generous Kickstarter donors. Contents
Preface xx Ernestine Hayes 48 Introduction xxiv Tlingit Poems: Carter Revard 3 Shapeshifers Osage, Ponca, Irish, and Scotch-Irish Land otter people Poems: Te Spoken Forest Indians Demand Equal Time with God Infuence poem: People from the Stars With Elegant Craf: Nora Marks Dauenhauer’s “How to Make Good Baked Driving in Oklahoma Salmon from the River” Statement on Energy Policy Essay: Adrian C. Louis 57 “Herbs of Healing: American Values in American Indian Literature” Lovelock Paiute Poems: Simon J. Ortiz 3o In Lieu of a Communion Wafer Acoma Pueblo Prairie Madness Poems: Skinology Culture and the Universe Te Hermit’s Diary Survival Tis Way Magpie in Margaritaville A Story of How a Wall Stands Essay: Our Eagerness Blooms Of Craf, Cub Scouts, Mayonnaise, and UFOs Essay: fom “Song/Poetry, and Language: Expression and Perception” Chrystos 67 Menominee Diane Glancy 41 Poems: Cherokee Sky Falls Away Poems: Beauti Full Sof Black Tongues Te Bat House She Had to Go Without Title Palestinians & Indians Feel Bufalo Medicine I Still Have the Bullet He Dressed Me for the Pretend Cold Te Earth Where I Live Until the times of restitution — Acts 3:21 Essay: Essay and infuence poem: War Piece Craf Federico Garcia Lorca’s “From Here” Infuencing poem: Audre Lorde’s “A Litany for Survival”
Linda Hogan 79 Ray A. Young Bear 119 Chickasaw Meskwaki Poems: Poems: Bones at the River To See as Far as the Grandfather World Creation Our Bird Aegis Te Fingers, Writing John Whirlwind’s Doublebeat Songs, 1956 About Myself Four Hinterland Abstractions Lost in the Milky Way Essay: What I Keep “Te Summer of 1969: Children of Speakthunder” Essay and infuencing poems: Infuence poem: Poetry Is My First Language: Layli Long Soldier’s “Whereas” and Craig Santos James Welch’s “In My Lifetime” Perez’s “understory” Joy Harjo 136 Leslie Marmon Silko 91 Mvskoke Laguno Pueblo Poems: Poems: Te Woman Who Fell from the Tirteenth Floor Window Poem for Myself and Mei: Concerning Abortion A Postcolonial Tale Love Poem Eagle Poem Te Storyteller’s Escape Essay: When Sun Came to Riverwoman from “One Song” Essay: from Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective LeAnne Howe 149 Infuencing poem: Choctaw Excerpt from a letter to James Wright, September 12, 1979, and James Wright’s Poems: poem “Wherever Home Is” Gatorland Noble Savage Learns to Tweet Janice Gould 1 1o Te Rope Speaks Koyangk’auwi Maidu Now I Lay Me Down Poems: Apocrypha Indian Mascot, 1959 Essay: Te Day of the Dead Inner Conficts Kim Infuence poem: A Poem W. D. Snodgrass’s “Eva Braun” Poor in Spirit Essay: Infuences Infuencing poem: Gary Snyder’s “Riprap” Luci Tapahonso 17o Gordon Henry Jr. 2oo Diné White Earth Ojibwe Poems: Poems: Blue Horses Rush In When Names Escaped Us Te Motion of Songs Rising November Becomes the Sky with Suppers for the Dead It Has Always Been Tis Way Jazz Tune for a Hiawatha Woman Daané é Diné Essay: Essay: Let us be painting painting painter singing singing singer: On the verve of verbs fom the Preface to Sáanii Dahataał: Te Women Are Singing Kimberly Blaeser 2o8 Ruby Hansen Murray 179 Anishinaabe Osage Poems: Poems: Captivity Te Dark Mother Apprenticed to Justice Nch’i-Wana Goodbye to All Tat Rest Assured Fantasies of Women Food Fight at Hanford, No Laughing Matter Of Fractals and Pink Flowering Te Little Osage Captive, Elias Cornelius, 1824 Essay: Essay: “Air is Between Tese Words, Fanning the Flame”: Poetry and Giving Voice to Place: Where You See Yourself Literary Inheritance Infuencing poem: Infuence poem: Carter Revard’s “Wazhazhe Grandmother” Linda Hogan’s “Workday”
Louise Erdrich 188 C. R. Resetarits 226 Turtle Mountain Ojibwe Cherokee-Creek Poems: Poems: Dear John Wayne Elegy Indian Boarding School: Te Runaways Arroyo Captivity Hovenweep Windigo Essay: Rez Litany Lost Tribes, Rain C. Goméz, and the Shadow Arts Essay: Infuence poem: Out of the Black Night Rain C Goméz’s “Mapping Shadow” Infuencing Poem: Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” Allison Adelle Hedge Coke 234 Deborah A. Miranda 28o Huron, Metis, Luso, French Canadian, and mixed Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen / Chumash Southeastern Native Poems: Poems: Juliana, 18o3 America, I Sing You Back Indian Cartography Taxonomy Novena to Bad Indians Radio Wave Mama Erasurepoem Streaming Tears of the Sun Essay: Essay: Beyond the Ballads Looking for Ourselves in the Poetry of Others Infuence poem: Infuence poem: Delmore Schwartz’s “Te Heavy Bear that Goes With Me” Wendy Rose’s “Excavation at Santa Barbara Mission”
Elise Paschen 259 Heid E. Erdrich 298 Osage Turtle Mountain Ojibwe Poems: Poems: Oklahoma Home Little Souvenirs from the DNA Trading Post Under the Dome National Monuments Wí’-gi-e Kennewick Man Tells All My Mother Descends Guidelines for the Treatment of Sacred Objects Parents at Rest Pre-Occupied Essay: Essay: Straddling Two Worlds Real to Me Infuence poem: Infuencing poem: Joy Harjo’s “She Had Some Horses” Kimberly Blaeser’s “Rewriting Your Life”
Suzanne S. Rancourt 27o Celia Bland 311 Abenaki (Bear Clan) / Huron Cherokee Poems: Poems: Fabric Car Crash Maccha Cherokee Hogscape Te Smell of Blood Lost Highway Essay: Essay: So Glad You Asked Car Crashes, Shootings, and Ghosts Infuence poem: Infuence poem: Ai’s “Warrior” Natalie Díaz’s “When My Brother Was an Aztec” Margaret Noodin 319 dg nanouk okpik 349 Anishinaabe Inupiaq-Inuit Poems: Poems: Daanisag / Daughters Frightening Acid Flakes Haibun Nayendamowin Mitigwaaking / Woodland Liberty Fossil Fuel Embers Haibun Apenimonodan / Trust Glacial Oil World Essay: Man and the Little People Like Sedimentary Stone Infuence poem: Infuence poem: Arthur Sze’s “Te Owl”: Toughts on Word Choice Jane Johnston Schoolcraf’s “On Leaving My Children John and Jane, in the Atlantic States, and preparing to return to the interior” Sammie Bordeaux-Seeger 355 Sicangu Lakota Chip Livingston 327 Poems: Mvskoke Blue Water Poems: No Water Stadium Mocs November Punta Del Este Pantoum 19oo 52 Hawks Essay: Essay: Finding Resonance in Roberta Hill’s “Star Quilt” Te Infuence of Repetition in Chrystos’s “Crazy Grandpa Whispers” Infuence poem: Roberta Hill’s “Star Quilt” Esther G. Belin 335 Diné Molly McGlennen 363 Poems: Anishinaabe Tis Is What I Mean Poems: ______Child(ren) Lef Behind Tree Poems for Ellia Public Record 1831 Living the Language Ruby in Me #1 Legend Blues-ing on the Brown Vibe Essay: Essay: Preface to Fried Fish and Flour Biscuits Poem Making as Making Space Infuence poem: M. L. Smoker 369 Luci Tapahonso’s “Tat American Flag” Assiniboine–Sioux Poems: Te Feed Another Attempt at a Rescue Letter to Richard Hugo Mercy Jennifer Elise Foerster 4o3 Essay: Mvskoke Hugo Poems: Infuence poem: From Coosa Richard Hugo’s “Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg” Atlas Leaving Tulsa Sherwin Bitsui 378 Essay: Diné Te Spiral: Circling Closer Poems: Infuence poem: Atlas Joy Harjo’s “Speaking Tree” Apparition Drought Laura Da’ 416 Stepping through the drum’s vibration Eastern Shawnee Essay: Poems: from “Te Motion of Poetic Landscape: An Interview with Sherwin Bitsui” by Perspective Bianca Viñas Eye Turned Crow Leviathan Cedar Sigo 388 Essay and Infuence poem: Suquamish On James Tomas Stevens’s “Tokinish” Poems: First Love Bojan Louis 426 Te Material Field Diné Te Studio Poems: Essay: Te Nature of Mortal Illness Return to Graftti Land If Nothing, the Land Infuence poem: Breach John Trudell’s “Rant and Roll” Essay: “Between the Abyss and Here, Beauty” Julian Talamantez Brolaski 397 Infuence poem: Mescalero and Lipan Apache, Latin@, European Lynda Hull’s “Studies from Life” Poems: as the owl augurs in the cut I had already shuttered an aspect of my vision Craig Santos Perez 439 I Am To Carry Tis History, Tis Body: Eduardo C. Corral’s “Our Comple- Chamoru tion: Oil on Wood: Tino Rodríguez: 1999” Poems: Interwoven Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley 494 Ode (Ending with a Confession) to the First Mango I Ate on Guam afer Onondaga Decades Away Poems: Te Pacifc Written Tradition American Rust Essay and Infuence poem: just another horse poem On Writing from the New Oceania and Cecilia Catherine Run: 2nd Street Harrisburg PA Summertime ’17 Taitano Perez’s “As I Turn the Pages” Essay: Our Work Is Never Over Ishmael Angaluuk Hope 456 Infuence poem: Tlingit, Iñupiaq Gail Tremblay’s “Indian Singing in 2oth Century America” Poems: Canoe Launching into the Gaslit Sea Orlando White 5o1 from Love Letter to the Future: A Book of the Land in Four Acts Diné of the Naaneesht’ézhi Tábaahí and born for Essay and Infuence text: the Naakai Diné’e “A Story of Turtle Island” told by Sequoyah Guess Poems: Analogy Michaelsun Stonesweat Knapp 469 Sentence Ohlone (Costanoan-Rumsen Carmel Band) Writ Poems: Unwritten Manwreck Whit At What Number Are Numbers No Good? Essay: Essay and Infuence texts: from Interview with Orlando White, by Veronica Golos On “At What Number Are Numbers No Good?” and Tecumseh’s Speech to the Osages Layli Long Soldier 5o9 Oglala Lakota Michael Wasson 477 Poems: Nimíipuu 38 Poems: Excerpts from “Whereas Statements” Aposiopesis [Or, the Field Between the Living & the Dead] Essay: I Say Afer-Rain, You Say Hahalx. páawisa from “Layli Long Soldier: interviewed by Kaveh Akbar” Self-Portrait as 1879–1934 Tis Dusk in a Mouth Full of Prayer Permissions Self-Portrait as Article 1 [1]. [Treaty With Nez Percés, 1855]: Cession of Lands Acknowledgments 523 to the United States Essay and Infuence poem: