Synopsis
Victor Charlo is a revered elder and spiritual leader of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Born and raised on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana, Vic writes poems about reservation life and people, his family, and his journeys to visit the polar bears. In Good Enough, Vic's daughter April Charlo has translated four of her father's poems into the family's native Salish language.
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Review
'I cut to the quick,' says Vic Charlo. 'I try to conjure up the old sayings, those words I grew up with and that come out every now and again. . . . I mostly write about things that are Native because that's what grounds me, things I understand.' Like so many other Native American writers, Vic Charlo also examines the persistence of Native traditions and the deep-seated necessity in the hearts of Native people to honor and continue the old ways of the tribe. In the poem 'Agnes,' Charlo writes about Agnes Vanderburg, a Salish elder renowned for her knowledge of tribal traditions and her willingness to teach others. In the poem, Charlo and Vanderburg are tanning hides, and Vic learns from Agnes the Salish word for scraper, which he describes as 'So hard. So to the point.' He laments the consequences of his acculturation into the non-Native world. He's earned a university degree, but he's lost touch with his own native traditions. 'Why did I learn to write? Why did I want to? he asks. Was it worth the loss of your world going away?' Similarly, in the poem 'Cycles,' Charlo says, 'What comes to mind when/ I think about the future is going home to old/ ways. Some think of the old ways as going/ back. I don't. Our lives,' says Charlo, 'are not linear; they are cyclical.' Earlier in the poem he questions the possibility of a linear reality: We always come back to where we are. 'Some say non-Indians think in straight lines, linear thought, yet Einstein said parallel lines bend if they go far enough in space. So maybe there is no linear thought.'
Victor Charlo is the proud father of four children and many grandchildren. His youngest daughter, April, has translated three of her father's poems into the native Salish language and she has written, in Put Sey (Good Enough), an introductory essay to her father's life and works. She tells the history of her family, how her grandparents thought it best that their children attend the White Man's schools and learn English. Consequently, Victor Charlo and many other children in his generation were discouraged from learning their native tongue. As a child, April Charlo comprehends the sadness of her family's withering traditions. 'In school I watched a movie about Indian boarding schools,' April writes, 'and the terrible fates the children encountered if they spoke their native tongue. I was horrified by the truth. And so, I pledged to learn Salish and do what I could to help the language survive.'
Put Sey (Good Enough) is, thanks to Vic Charlo and his daughter April, the continuing thread in the story of Native American cultural survival. --Zan Agzigian
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Good Enough
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0979518512I4N00