Unintentionally, some of my reading this winter followed a distinct theme of Native Americans and the awful way we treated their ancestors and continue to mistreat them. I’m not sure how I ended up grouping these books together in the space of a few weeks, but I am glad that it happened. These books stand alone in their different genres and voices yet together form a strong collection with real significance for me. I would recommend any of the following books.
My path began with Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann which I listened to in my car. Grann does an amazing job of weaving tons of details and research with a captivating narrative. The audiobook is read in three sections by three different narrators, one of whom is Will Patton. (I can admit to being completely distracted at times by his slightly southern, gravelly textured, somehow intimate voice...sigh...but I digress.) The story of government sanctioned robbery, embezzlement and murder of the Osage tribe is so mind blowing yet emblematic of our country’s systematic dismissal of native tribes it should be required reading for all Americans. The FBI parts are interesting, too, but the Osage murders steal the show.
The search for a new ninth grade summer reading book at my school prompted some re-reading this winter which included The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. (Small pause to disclose my deep and ardent Barbara Kingsolver girl-crush...sigh.) I read this book in college and have read every one of her books since, but this was the first re-read of hers for me. I enjoyed it all over again; so much so that Pigs in Heaven quickly followed because honestly I couldn’t remember what happened to Taylor and her adopted daughter, Turtle. The story resonated in a way that I am sure it did not at my first reading twenty some years ago, as Taylor fights to keep her Native American daughter from the Cherokee tribe. My younger and less enlightened self was probably all Taylor, but the me coming off of Killers has a lot more understanding for Annawake and the tribe.
Without even thinking of this string of books, lots of press and a lucky hit on my local public library Overdrive catalog brought me to Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot. Although she grew up on a reservation in Canada not the US, the residue of generations of institutional racism is just as thick. Mailhot’s memoir is fragmented (in a good way), raw, brutal and honest. Her writing style may slant slightly toward what I think of as MFA’d, but most of it blew me away. I can’t wait to see what comes next from her.
PK
My path began with Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann which I listened to in my car. Grann does an amazing job of weaving tons of details and research with a captivating narrative. The audiobook is read in three sections by three different narrators, one of whom is Will Patton. (I can admit to being completely distracted at times by his slightly southern, gravelly textured, somehow intimate voice...sigh...but I digress.) The story of government sanctioned robbery, embezzlement and murder of the Osage tribe is so mind blowing yet emblematic of our country’s systematic dismissal of native tribes it should be required reading for all Americans. The FBI parts are interesting, too, but the Osage murders steal the show.
The search for a new ninth grade summer reading book at my school prompted some re-reading this winter which included The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. (Small pause to disclose my deep and ardent Barbara Kingsolver girl-crush...sigh.) I read this book in college and have read every one of her books since, but this was the first re-read of hers for me. I enjoyed it all over again; so much so that Pigs in Heaven quickly followed because honestly I couldn’t remember what happened to Taylor and her adopted daughter, Turtle. The story resonated in a way that I am sure it did not at my first reading twenty some years ago, as Taylor fights to keep her Native American daughter from the Cherokee tribe. My younger and less enlightened self was probably all Taylor, but the me coming off of Killers has a lot more understanding for Annawake and the tribe.
Without even thinking of this string of books, lots of press and a lucky hit on my local public library Overdrive catalog brought me to Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot. Although she grew up on a reservation in Canada not the US, the residue of generations of institutional racism is just as thick. Mailhot’s memoir is fragmented (in a good way), raw, brutal and honest. Her writing style may slant slightly toward what I think of as MFA’d, but most of it blew me away. I can’t wait to see what comes next from her.
PK
