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A LILY AMONG THORNS, The Mohawk Repatriation of Kateri Tekakwi:tha

Darren Bonaparte (Mohawk)
More books have been written about the “Lily of the Mohawks” than any other aboriginal woman who has ever lived, but none have ever told her story from the perspective of her own nation. Mohawk author Darren Bonaparte sets out to do just that by presenting a bold new biography that reestablishes her place in the greater context of Kanien’kehá:ka history and culture. He brings a critical eye to the documents written by the priests who knew her, and asserts that it was much more than religion and the fur trade that drew so many of her people from their Mohawk Valley homeland to the banks of the St. Lawrence River more than three centuries ago. Illustrations by R. Kakwirakeron Montour

$18.99

How Can One Sell the Air?: Chief Seattle's Vision (Paperback)

Chief Seattle (Suquamish) & Eli Gifford
Chief Seattle's impassioned plea to respect "the Sacred Web of Life" has become an inspiration to many. But what did he really say? Our research lead us to the version the Suquamish elders from Seattle's tribe include in their oral tradition, published here with two popular twentieth century adaptations. Historical background explains the evolution of the speech and clears up the recent controversy surrounding the authenticity. Eli Gifford was writing a masters thesis on Chief Seattle and his famous speech. Together with Michael Cook, who talked to the Suquamish elders, interviewed Robert Perry and contacted the estate of William Arrrowsmith, they were able to trace the evolution of the original speech to two popular 20th century adaptations. Warren Jefferson, a photographer and researcher, was given access to rare photographs from the Suquamish archives for this book.
Book Publishing Company

$6.95

Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream (Paperback)

Greg Sarris (Coast Miwok/Pomo)
A world-renowned Pomo basket weaver and medicine woman, Mabel McKay expressed her genius through her celebrated baskets, her Dreams, her cures, and the stories with which she kept her culture alive. She spent her life teaching others how the spirit speaks through the Dream, how the spirit heals, and how the spirit demands to be heard. Greg Sarris weaves together stories from Mabel McKay's life with an account of how he tried, and she resisted, telling her story straight--the white people's way. Sarris, an Indian of mixed-blood heritage, finds his own story in his search for Mabel McKay's. Beautifully narrated, Weaving the Dream initiates the reader into Pomo culture and demonstrates how a woman who worked most of her life in a cannery could become a great healer and an artist whose baskets were collected by the Smithsonian. Hearing Mabel McKay's life story, we see that distinctions between material and spiritual and between mundane and magical disappear. What remains is a timeless way of healing, of making art, and of being in the world.
University of California Press

$18.00

Madonna Swan: A Lakota Woman's Story (Paperback)

Mark St. Pierre (Abenaki)
This heartwarming account portrays a spirited, modern-day Lakota Sioux woman's triumph over debilitating illness and depressing conditions on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Madonna Swan-Abdulla, born in 1928, contracted tuberculosis as a teenager, lost a lung and spent a decade in sanatoriums. She speaks eloquently and without self-pity in these sometimes loosely connected sketches admirably edited by St. Pierre, sociology professor at Colorado Mountain College. Sustained by strong family ties, especially the love of her mother, Swan-Abdulla finds joy in simple ways and stands up to corrupt tribal leaders. Her life is fitting reminder that real heroes can be found in everyday life.
University of Oklahoma Press

$19.95

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