Anthologies

Anthologies:

Allen, Paula Gunn, ed. Spider Woman’s Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women. Boston: Beacon Press, 1989. Davis PS508.I5 S64 1989.

This anthology introduces some little-known names to the critical audience. Selections are grouped by Warriors, Casualties, and Resistance, and set up in a sequence intended, perhaps, to show interchange among stories. For instance, the Resistance category includes four Yellow Woman stories, from Cochiti traditional to Laguna Pueblo traditional to Silko’s modern telling. Not only are bibliographies and biographical notes at the end, but this volume includes also a glossary.

Allen, Paula Gunn, ed. Song of the Turtle: American Indian Literature 1974-1994. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. Davis PS508.I5 S62 1996.

A wonderful collection of fiction, this volume extends Allen’s earlier Voice of the Turtle. Among the selections are the becoming-famous Silko’s “Tony’s Story,” Luci Tapahonso’s “The Snakeman,” and Joy Harjo’s “The Woman Who Fell from the Sky.” Writers Beth Brant, Louise Erdrich, and Mary TallMountain are included, along with other women and men. The bibliography names anthologies, collections of short fiction, and criticism, background, and history.

Allen, Paula Gunn, ed. Voice of the Turtle: American Indian Literature 1900-1970. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994. Davis PS508.I5 V64 1994.

This collection of fiction gathers selections (some excerpts) from five women and fifteen men. Each is introduced by the editor, who has also written an introductory essay providing this anthology with a spiritual and political context. Brief biographical notes of the collected authors concludes the volume.

Brant, Beth, ed. A Gathering of Spirit: Writing and Art by North American Indian Women. Rockland, ME: Sinister Wisdom Books, 1984. Davis PS508.I5 G3 1984

This slim volume collects poems, short stories, letters, essays, speeches, drawings, and photographs by a wide variety of Native American artists.

Bruchac, Joseph, ed. Songs from this Earth on Turtle’s Back: Contemporary American Indian Poetry. Greenfield Center, NY: The Greenfield Review Press, 1983. Davis PS591.I55 S66 1983.

Set in small type, this imaginative anthology brings together a wide selection of native authors—51 in all, from all regions of the country. Each author is presented in alphabetical order by last name, with four or five poems chosen.

Dunn, Carolyn, and Carol Comfort, eds. Through the Eye of the Deer: An Anthology of Native American Women Writers. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, c1999. Davis PS508.I5 T48 1999.

This collection of poems, essays, and short fiction is divided according to theme: "Stories of Birth and Creation," "Women's Rites of Passage: Power and Knowledge," "Women's Rituals," and "Women's Mysteries." The editors chose writers whom they feel are "reshaping and retelling traditional stories in a modern context" (x). There is a brief biographical sketch of the author at the beginning of each selection.

Green, Rayna, ed. That’s What She Said: Contemporary Poetry and Fiction by Native American Women. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1984. Davis PS508.I5 T46 1984.

Among the older anthologies to concentrate on women writers, this collection has its selections organized by author, and the sixteen authors are included in alphabetical order. There is a black and white photo of each author before her selections, and the book ends with glossary, bibliography, and brief biographical sketches of the authors.

Harjo, Joy and Gloria Bird, eds. Reinventing the Enemy’s Language: Contemporary Native Women’s Writings of North America. First Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 1997. Davis PS508.I5 R38 1997.

A wonderful collection of eighty-seven women's writings, this anthology also arranges its entries within four thematic sections: "Beginnings", "Within the Enemy: Challenge," "Transformation: Voices of the Invisible," and "Dreamwalkers: The Returning." There are brief contributors' notes and an index by title or author.

Hobson, Geary, ed. The Remembered Earth: An Anthology of Contemporary Native American Literature. Albuquerque, NM: Red Earth Press, c1979. Davis PS508.I5 R4

Divided by the four regions of the country, this anthology brings together primarily short stories and poems, with some essays and drawings reproduced as well. Writers are not introduced, although there are the briefest of biographical references in the back. There is no indexing.

Kilcup, Karen L., ed. Native American Women’s Writing c.1800-1924: An Anthology. Oxford; Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2000. Davis PS508.I5 N374 2000

A valuable resource for recovered writing, this anthology answers a need to show the critical audience that Native women have a long history of writing. Each entry is introduced with a biographical essay and a bibliography that includes primary and secondary resources. This is an excellent anthology for research into earlier writers.

Lesley, Craig, ed. Talking Leaves: Contemporary Native American Short Stories. New York: Dell, 1991. Davis PS508.I5 T354 1991.

This collection joins the stories of twenty women and fifteen men, making it unusual in its emphases. The women writers include Paula Gunn Allen, Beth Brant, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Louise Erdrich, Rayna Green, Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, Mary TallMountain, and Roberta Hill Whiteman. Male writers include the usual suspects: Joseph Bruchac, Michael Dorris, Scott Momaday, Duane Niatum, Carter Revard, James Welch, and Gerald Vizenor. I am surprised that any recent collection could leave out Leslie Silko. Brief biographical notes end the volume.

Niatum, Duane, ed. Carriers of the Dream Wheel: Contemporary Native American Poetry. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Davis PS591.I55 N5 1975

One of the early standards in anthologies of Native literature, Niatum’s volume brings together some of the best known writers of the early 70s. Included women are Wendy Rose, Leslie Silko, Diane Gladys Cardiff, Liz Sohappy Bahe, Roberta Hill, and Anita Probst.

Niatum, Duane, ed. Harper’s Anthology of 20^th Century Native American Poetry. New York: Harper & Row, 1988. Davis PS591.I55 H37 1988

This anthology contains some of the same authors as the last, but goes further in including women and newer authors. Mary TallMountain, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Paula Gunn Allen, Linda Hogan, and Louise Erdrich are added, among other women. The volume includes brief biographical references in the back, and poems are indexed by first line and title.

Witalec, Janet, ed. Smoke Rising: The Native North American Literary Companion. Detroit, MI; Washington, DC: Visible Ink, 1995. Davis PS508.I5 S6 1995.

I consider it a nice touch that the table of contents includes a brief biographical statement as well as listing the contributions for each author. There is also an index for faster finding of specific selections, but not authors. While the authors and selections seem to be well-chosen, representative, this anthology does not, I believe, allocate enough space to reproducing the authors’ works. Scott Momaday is limited to a selection from The Way to Rainy Mountain;” Leslie Silko has one selection from Ceremony; Paula Gunn Allen has one selection from The Sacred Hoop.