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A review by gitli57
Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing by Paula Gunn Allen, Simon Ortiz, Maurice Kenny, MariJo Moore, Sherman Alexie, Leslie Marmon Silko
challenging
informative
reflective
4.0
From the back cover - "Genocide of the Mind is a moving and inspiring collection of essays that records the determination of people from over twenty-five different nations to bring the Native American experience into the 21st Century."
I read this not long after it was published in 2003 and revisited it this year (2021). I was a bit saddened but not really surprised at how relevant it still is. Issues around identity and how we express identity are still a reality for many of us in NDN Country. Concerns about the disappearance of many of our languages are even more urgent now than then. The Washington Football Team notwithstanding, there is still much work to be done around racist imagery and mascots used by athletic teams. Racism and stereotyping by the dominant culture and its media machine still abound as does a seemingly willful ignorance about the diversity of experience and expression that is Native America.
So this diverse collection of essays with some poetry mixed in still packs a punch. Like any compilation, it is a mixed bag for voice and style and your mileage may vary.
I read this not long after it was published in 2003 and revisited it this year (2021). I was a bit saddened but not really surprised at how relevant it still is. Issues around identity and how we express identity are still a reality for many of us in NDN Country. Concerns about the disappearance of many of our languages are even more urgent now than then. The Washington Football Team notwithstanding, there is still much work to be done around racist imagery and mascots used by athletic teams. Racism and stereotyping by the dominant culture and its media machine still abound as does a seemingly willful ignorance about the diversity of experience and expression that is Native America.
So this diverse collection of essays with some poetry mixed in still packs a punch. Like any compilation, it is a mixed bag for voice and style and your mileage may vary.