Description
Growing Up Native American: An Anthology, edited by Patricia Riley is a collection of book excerpts, essays, and short stories by twenty-two Native American and First Nations authors who write about their experiences growing up in North America. From fifteen nations these writers talk about learning English, attending residential school or boarding school, identity, cultural traditions, family, community, oppression, racism, and stereotypes. Includes excerpts from the writings of nineteenth and twentieth century Native authors including: Simon Ortiz, Anna Lee Walters, Ella Cara Deloria, Sara Winnemucca Hopkins, Ignatia Broker, Black Elk, Luther Standing Bear, Francis La Flesche, Lame Deer, Louise Erdrich, Basil Johnston, John Joseph Mathews, Linda Hogan, N. Scott Momaday, Lee Maracle, Geary Hobson, Louis Owens, Vickie L. Sears, Leslie Marmon Silko, Michael Dorris, and Eric L. Gansworth. Basil Johnston's selection is taken from his experiences during residential school; Ignatia Broker's excerpt from Night Flying Woman: An Ojibwa Narrative recounts events when her great-great grandmother's family members refused to live on a reservation; and Lee Maracle's selection is taken from her autobiography, Bobbi Lee: Indian Rebel. Dealing with subtle stereotypes and issues around learning about death are skillfully woven into Eric Gansworth's short story about a plastic Indian and a real-life Hollywood actor from his reservation. Authors manage to inject humour into the stories and excerpts that often contain tragic circumstances. Whether the author is talking about old time buffalo hunts or growing up in American or Canadian urban areas, the selections convey the diversity and similarities among Native Americans and First Nations. Ines Hernandez provides a useful foreword, and the editor supplies introductory paragraphs for each selection. An ideal anthology of Native literary works for high school and post secondary-level students about childhood and adolescence.