Spider Woman's Granddaughters
Indigenous peoples fiction, Anthologies, Criticism, General non-fiction
Synthetic audio, Automated braille
Summary
These 24 compelling and bleakly evocative narratives compiled by Allen, a professor of Native American studies at the University of California, all stress the theme of loss: loss of identity, loss of culture, loss of personal meaning. By juxtaposing traditional… stories with contemporary tales, Allen allows readers to see how the same themes, values and perceptions have endured through the centuries, "testaments to cultural persistence, to a vision and a spiritual reality that will not die." Echoes of the traditional "Oshkikwe's Baby," about an old witch who steals babies, can be found in two stories. In Louise Erdrich's "American Horse," a white social worker separates a boy from his mother for his own "good," to the anguish of mother and son.- Publishers Weekly