Dawnland Voices: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England

Acknowledgments

xxiii acknowledgments More people than I can name, and certainly more than I could keep track of, helped during this project, from its initial conception, to finding and contacting writers, to tracking down copyright holders, to the final layout and presentation. I can’t quite describe what a great honor it was, and how humbling, to work with these eleven community editors. They are astonishingly brilliant knowledge keepers, and their commitment to sustaining their communities and traditions is breathtaking. Each one put in countless hours pulling this material together, teaching me about local literary traditions, and conveying the importance of this project to their friends and neighbors. Their expertise is tremendous, and they shared it generously and patiently. Additionally, all of the living writers included here contributed much more than their own work: they solicited fellow tribal members for additional writings and put up with my endless questions about locations, language, and history. Beyond the editors and writers, there were legions of smart and selfless people who talked with me on the phone or via email, and who helped me find other writings. Some sent pieces that I was unable to include here; others read over sections, proofread or copyedited chapters in progress, or participated in the often-circuitous search for rights holders. The University of Nebraska Press deserves special thanks for supporting this project and indeed for its decades-long commitment to Native American literature. This anthology is long and in many ways unconventional for an academic publisher. It required rather more than the usual labor and negotiation among multiple authors, copyright holders, and other parties. Matt Bokovoy and his staff (Heather Stauffer, Leif Milliken, Sabrina Stellrecht, freelancer Joy Margheim, and others) were exceptionally flexible and understanding in working with first-time authors and accommodating a diversity of approaches to print literature while maintaining the high xxiv acknowledgments standards for which the press is known. Academic publishing is never lucrative , but the press and the tribal editors agree that any and all royalties from the sale of this book shall be distributed evenly among the following: the Penobscot Cultural and Historic Preservation Project, the Passamaquoddy Tribal Museum, Gedakina, Nipmuc Nation Project Mishoon, the Mashpee Wampanoag Museum, the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum, and the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum. Melissa Clark donated many hours of her time and expertise to creating a map of the territory described in this book. Mapping is tricky and political business, and in the end, the tribal editors were unable to agree on a single map of indigenous homeland in the northeast. I regret that I did not recognize this much earlier in the book-making process, but I thank Melissa for her generosity and refer readers to the many excellent maps that can be found on individual tribal websites. I am undoubtedly forgetting individuals to whom I owe some sizable debt of gratitude, and I apologize sincerely to anyone I’ve left out: Kate April, Rocky Bear (Maliseet), Charles Brilvitch, Wendi-Starr Brown (Narragansett), Ana Caguiat, Amy Den Ouden, Thomas Doughton (Nipmuc), Burt Feintuch , James Finley, Jessica Fish, James Francis (Penobscot), Geneva Marie Gano, Maria Girouard (Penobscot), Rae Gould (Nipmuc), Joyce Heywood (Abenaki), Luke Joseph (Passamaquoddy), Robert Leavitt, Michael LeBlanc, Dyani Lee (Narragansett), Joan Lester, Drew Lopenzina, Margo Lukens, Pauleena MacDougall, Jason Mancini, Daniel Mandell, Rodger Martin, Donna Roberts Moody (Abenaki), John Moody, Tom Silver Fox Morse (Nipmuc), Wayne Newell (Passamaquoddy), Bonnie Newsom and other members of the Penobscot Cultural Heritage Preservation Commission, Robert Dale Parker, Dan Paul (Mi’kmaq), Micah Pawling, Shoran Piper (Golden Hill Paugussett), Paul Pouliot (Abenaki), Rick Pouliot (Abenaki), Dale Potts, Kathy Sebastian (Eastern Pequot), David Slagger (Maliseet), David Stewart-Smith (Abenaki), David Watters, Margaret Way, Hilary Wyss, Bill Yellow Robe Jr. (Assiniboine). This project would not have been possible without the support I received as the James H. and Claire Short Hayes Chair in the Humanities at the University of New Hampshire. It would also not have been possible without the countless indigenous knowledge-keepers, past and present, who have kept these literary traditions alive. In a project this size, some omissions and errors have undoubtedly slipped through. I apologize sincerely, and assume full responsibility, for all mistakes. dawnland voices ...