In this Book

buy this book Buy This Book in Print
summary

Here's the myth: Native Americans are people of great spiritual depth, in touch with the rhythms of the earth, rhythms that they celebrate through drumming and dancing. They love the great outdoors and are completely in tune with the natural world. They can predict the weather by glancing at the sky, or hearing a crow cry, or somehow. Who knows exactly how? The point of the myth is that Indians are, well, special. Different from white people, but in a good way.
     The four young male Native American poets whose work is brought together in this startling collection would probably raise high their middle fingers in salute to this myth. These guys and "guys" they are—don't buy into the myth. Their poems aren't about hunting and fishing or bonding with animal spirits. Their poems are about urban decay and homelessness, about loneliness and despair, about Payday Loans and 40-ounce beers, about getting enough to eat and too much to drink. And there is nothing romantic about their poetry, either. It is written in the vernacular of mean streets: often raw and coarse and vulgar, just like the lives it describes. Sure, they write about life on the reservation. However, for the Indians in their poems, life on the reservation is a lot like life in the city, but without the traffic. These poets are sick to death of the myth. You can feel it in their poems.
     These poets are bound by a common attitude as well as a common heritage. All four—Joel Waters, Steve Pacheco, Luke Warm Water, and Trevino L. Brings Plenty—are Sioux, and all four identify themselves as "Skins" (as in "Redskins"). In their poems, they grapple with their heritage, wrestling with what it means to be a Sioux and a Skin today. It's a fight to the finish.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Title page, Copyright
  2. pp. i-iv
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-viii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Introduction
  2. Adrian C. Louis
  3. pp. ix-xii
  4. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Trevino L. Brings Plenty
  1. Here We Go Again
  2. pp. 3-4
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Ghost Shirt Litany
  2. p. 5
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. How to Be an Indian Male in the Early 21st Century
  2. pp. 6-8
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. To Rid the Egg
  2. pp. 9-10
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. The Question
  2. pp. 11-12
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. No Eyes
  2. pp. 13-14
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. To Find the Indian Wisdom
  2. p. 15
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Park Sandwich
  2. pp. 16-17
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Building Rooms to Sell Dreams
  2. p. 18
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part Gravel, Part Water, All Indian
  2. p. 19
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Life Money
  2. pp. 20-21
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Lakota Language Lesson with Benjamin
  2. pp. 22-24
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Meals
  2. pp. 25-26
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Dead Whistle
  2. p. 27
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Crazy Horse Nightmares
  2. pp. 28-30
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. She Is Now a Poem
  2. pp. 31-32
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. It Is Called a Chow Line
  2. pp. 33-34
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Steve Pacheco
  1. History
  2. p. 37
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. City Elegy for a Nameless Skin
  2. p. 38
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Uncle
  2. p. 39
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Indian Country
  2. p. 40
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Veteran’s Day
  2. p. 41
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Lonesome Night
  2. p. 42
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Rocks
  2. pp. 43-44
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Waiting for the Barbarians
  2. p. 45
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Sugar Bowl
  2. pp. 46-47
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Our Life
  2. p. 48
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Arrival Song
  2. p. 49
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. But Tonight I Praise It
  2. p. 50
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Prairie Prayer
  2. p. 51
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. The Lower Sioux Rez: Three Scenes
  2. p. 52
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Wacipi
  2. pp. 53-54
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Homeland
  2. p. 55
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Her Belly
  2. p. 56
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Star Quilt
  2. p. 57
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. On the Anniversary of Her Wake
  2. p. 58
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. First of the Month
  2. p. 59
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Eden Prairie, Minnesota
  2. p. 60
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Brothers
  2. pp. 61-62
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Love Poem
  2. pp. 63-64
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Joel Waters
  1. Devil’s Playground
  2. pp. 67-68
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. The Outhouse
  2. pp. 69-70
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Picking Potatoes
  2. pp. 71-72
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. The Linoleum Heart
  2. pp. 73-74
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Wannabe
  2. pp. 75-76
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Spirits Underneath an Artificial Blue Sky
  2. pp. 77-78
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Rez Cars Crash
  2. pp. 79-81
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Into the Turtle’s Cracks
  2. pp. 82-83
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Cherry
  2. pp. 84-85
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. The Cigarette Burns
  2. pp. 86-88
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Luke Warm Water
  1. Art of Huffing Paint
  2. pp. 91-92
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Blip Blip
  2. pp. 93-96
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chief Bigfoot Death Pose and the Pawn Shop Receipt
  2. pp. 97-100
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Indian Health Service Clinic
  2. pp. 101-102
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Welfare Bliss
  2. p. 103
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Martin, South Dakota Needed a Martini Waitress
  2. p. 104
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Ishi’s Hiding Place
  2. pp. 105-106
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. John Wayne’s Bullet
  2. pp. 107-108
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Pizza Poem
  2. pp. 109-110
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. The Jesus of Pine Ridge
  2. pp. 111-114
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Reservation Casino
  2. pp. 115-118
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. This Is What It Means to Say San Diego, California
  2. p. 119
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Rapid City Wino Lament
  2. p. 120
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. On Indian Time
  2. pp. 121-122
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. About the Authors
  2. pp. 123-124
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.