Speaking for the Generations: Native Writers on Writing (Sun Tracks)

Now it is my turn to stand. At Acoma Pueblo meetings, members rise and announce their intention to speak. In that moment they are recognized and heard. In Speaking for the Generations, Acoma Pueblo poet Simon Ortiz brings together contemporary Native American writers to take their turn. Each offers an evocation of herself or himself, describing the personal, social, and cultural influences on her or his development as a writer. Although each writer's viewpoint is personal and unique, together they reflect the rich tapestry of today's Native literature. Of varied backgrounds, the writers represent Indian heritages and cultures from the Pacific Northwest to the northern plains, from Canada to Guatemala. They are poets, novelists, and playwrights. And although their backgrounds are different and their statements intensely personal, they share common themes of their relationship to the land, to their ancestors, and to future generations of their people. From Gloria Bird's powerful recounting of personal and family history to Esther Belin's vibrant tale of her urban Native homeland in Los Angeles, these writers reveal the importance of place and politics in their lives. Leslie Marmon Silko calls upon the ancient tradition of Native American storytelling and its role in connecting the people to the land. Roberta J. Hill and Elizabeth Woody ponder some of the absurdities of contemporary Native life, while Guatemalan Victor Montejo takes readers to the Mayan world, where a native culture had writing and books long before Europeans came. Together these pieces offer an inspiring portrait of what it means to be a Native writer in the twentieth century. With passion and urgency, these writers are speaking for themselves, for their land, and for the generations.

This tight, well-selected anthology makes its point clearly--namely, that it isn't possible to discuss Native American art without also discussing Native American sovereignty. Traditional connection with the land and, through it, with history, means that Native American writers today do not seek individual expression as much as they fulfill an ancient social role. Storytellers in the past did more than entertain or dramatize; they also taught values and traditions. Similarly, contemporary writers "speak for the generations," both past and to come. In addition, they speak for the land, naming its vital connections to humanity. Some might argue with Ortiz's theme, but Leslie Marmon Silko, Gloria Bird, Roberta Hill, and others testify to its power and its resonance within Native American culture and art today. Patricia Monaghan