A review by ela_lee_
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
4.0
A unique and delicate collection of poems that hold a lot of emotion as we’re reminded how horrifying The Trail of Tears was for Indigenous Americans.
“Until the passage of The Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, it was illegal for Native citizens to practicer our cultures. This includes the making and sharing of songs and stories. Songs and stories in one culture are poetry and prose in another. They are intrinsic to cultural sovereignty. To write or create as a Native person was essentially illegal.”
I particularly enjoyed her descriptions of nature and the calmness of her poetry style. A few excerpts I bookmarked: (Typed out directly from the Audiobook, so not accurately formatted.)
And the words of her song were: “I have no more land, I am driven away from home, driven up the red waters. Let us all go. Let us all die together and somewhere up on the banks, we will be there.” (1937 interview)
“Once, there were songs for everything. Songs for planting, for growing, for harvesting. For eating, getting drunk, falling asleep. For sunrise, birth, mind break, and war. For death - those are the heaviest songs. And they have to be pried from the earth with shovels of grief. Now, all we hear are falling in love songs and falling apart after falling in love songs.”
Cehotosakvtes (Traditional Muscogee Song)
“Do not get tired. Don’t be discouraged. Be determined. Come, together. Let’s go, towards the highest place.”
“The waters of this river, these healing plants, these stones. These winds roaming through on sunlight and rains. All the suns of our lost days. They couldn’t remember, because to remember would have killed us… when nothing else did.”
“Until the passage of The Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, it was illegal for Native citizens to practicer our cultures. This includes the making and sharing of songs and stories. Songs and stories in one culture are poetry and prose in another. They are intrinsic to cultural sovereignty. To write or create as a Native person was essentially illegal.”
I particularly enjoyed her descriptions of nature and the calmness of her poetry style. A few excerpts I bookmarked: (Typed out directly from the Audiobook, so not accurately formatted.)
And the words of her song were: “I have no more land, I am driven away from home, driven up the red waters. Let us all go. Let us all die together and somewhere up on the banks, we will be there.” (1937 interview)
“Once, there were songs for everything. Songs for planting, for growing, for harvesting. For eating, getting drunk, falling asleep. For sunrise, birth, mind break, and war. For death - those are the heaviest songs. And they have to be pried from the earth with shovels of grief. Now, all we hear are falling in love songs and falling apart after falling in love songs.”
Cehotosakvtes (Traditional Muscogee Song)
“Do not get tired. Don’t be discouraged. Be determined. Come, together. Let’s go, towards the highest place.”
“The waters of this river, these healing plants, these stones. These winds roaming through on sunlight and rains. All the suns of our lost days. They couldn’t remember, because to remember would have killed us… when nothing else did.”