Whether you say wah-lala or gua-lala, there is no question that any writer worth her coastal sea salt wants to support independent bookstores. I’m glad to get the froggy nod from the Crockett Brothers, and look forward to a lively afternoon of reading from Indian Voices. I also hope that members of the local Native communities attend, always a wonderful happiness for me.
Please note early hour.
At the 26th Annual Indian Conference, held this year on the campus of Chico State University, I’ll be giving a talk, “Stories behind the (mostly wonderful) decade of work to research and write Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans.” (Yes again, copies available.)
Days of very interesting talks and conferences will take place beginning October 27th. Mine is among the last, just before the final farewell blessing on Sunday.
I’ll be giving an up and clean (as opposed to down and dirty) talk on the subject at the Tiburon-Belvedere Library on Thursday evening, October 13th. Cases in point: the compilation of Indian Voices. Come on by, to a beautiful facility. And yes, copies of Indian Voices will be available for sale, with a special gift-with-purchase.
The Heard Museum of Phoenix, initiating a new program of writers and artists, has invited me to participate in the January program. Save the date, Arizonans: January 21st. I’ll be reading from the Patty Talahongva chapter, “`Get Over It’ and Other Suggestions” with…. yes, the irrepressible Patty Talahongva.
On Sunday the 22nd, I’m happily reading at the independent bookstore, the Poisoned Pen, in Scottsdale.
This just in, from the Pacific Sun newspaper of Marin County, California.
Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans by Alison Owings. Rutgers University Press. 392 pages. $26.95. www.alisonowings.com
Surprisingly lacking the strands of white-guilt that one may expect in a book written by a Caucasian about Native Americans, Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans is informative as much as it is refreshing. Alison Owings’ book offers up chapter after chapter of interviews with Native Americans across the country, addressing issues of substance abuse, health, repatriation, familial bonds, ceremonies—and that ever-prevalent Native humor.
Owings, who lives in Mill Valley, speaks candidly with slightly humorous self-deprecation and honest insight from her own place of misinterpretations and assumptions about Native culture. Reflecting on her own education, she makes no excuses, confronts her personally believed stereotypes and goes above and beyond, traveling far and wide to blow her own misconceptions out of the water.
In the revealing interviews she conducted as research for Indian Voices, the issues of continued ignorance about Native Americans from non-native countrymen is staggering. Topping the list of offenses include using the word “squaw,” asking a Native person if he or she is “full blooded” and general blanket beliefs about Native life in today’s world.
Owings also addresses issues of colonization of Hawaii. “Did Hawai’i not have an indigenous population whose lives were radically changed by European arrival?” she asks when explaining the inclusion of Hawaiians in the collection.
Indian Voices is an excellent contribution to the growing works of white writers and activists attempting to unravel the assumptions and “othering” that contributes to interracial tension and violence. Confronting ignorance on a personal level is always the best place to start and Owings offers a fantastic educational tool as well as an entertaining read for anyone wishing to work toward a world of equality.—Dani Burlison
Photograph by Judy Dater
