Description
Iroquois Fires - The Six Nations Lyrics and Lore of Dawendine is a collection of writings by Bernice Loft Winslow, who was born in 1902 on Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario. Her mother was Cayuga, Ellen Johnson Loft, and her father was a Mohawk Chief, William D. Loft. Bernice became a school teacher at Six Nations, and during the 1930s lectured about her culture and history. Bernice Loft wrote poems and stories about her life on Six Nations in later years after her marriage to Arthur H. Winslow of Massachusetts. The book is organized into three sections - one section is a collection of 23 lyrical poems about her family and cultural heritage. The poems express her feelings and emotions as she lives far away from her family and community. The loneliness and feeling of exile are evident in her words. Several of these poems are written in memory of family members as well as veterans of World War 2. The selection of prose writing includes personal interpretations of traditional stories and legends as well as Longhouse ceremonies. The third part of the book contains a biographical sketch of the author, an account of how the 1947 manuscript finally became a book, and a collection of illustrations and archival photographs. This section is written by Bryan Winslow Colwell, Donald Smith, and Robert Stacey. This is a fascinating collection of writings by a woman whose life in some ways mirrored the life of Emily Pauline Johnson. Iroquois Fires introduces readers to a time period of Six Nations Iroquois history that is often overlooked by historians.