Charleyboy, Lisa, and Mary Beth Leatherdale, editors. Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices. Annick Press, 2015.
image from: goodreads.com
My Thoughts
I was able to read these essays/articles/biographies in just a day (and while in "down time" at a volleyball tournament").
I liked reading about contemporary Indians. My brain often keeps Indians in the box of the 1880s--roaming the prairies, living in teepees, hunting buffalo (ok, perhaps I just lump all Indians into the Plains). This book gave me insight to the Indians of today, although they were all Canadian. I wished to see some profiles of Indians living in the United States. I'm sure some of the experiences are similar, but it would have been nice to include voices from both countries.
Included in the book are 64 artists, writers, actors, singers, poets, as well as "everyday people" telling their stories. Some live in the city; some live in the country. Some stories are written as poems, others as essays. Some stories are visual. The editors have "asked [the contributors] to share their nations and home reserves. Contributors decided for themselves how to define their heritage" (Charleyboy 11).
One of the things I noted in the book comes from Jeffrey Veregge (S'Klallam, Suquamish, Duwamish). He writes, "The other place I loved going was the library. Here I could get lost for hours looking at all the books...When the library started adding movies that you could check out, it was like getting your meal supersized for free. I know I would not be the same artist had it not been for the library" (Charleyboy 108).
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