That the people might live
Journal Data
| Type | SOURCE_BOOK |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (GB) |
| ISBN-13 | 9780195118520 |
| Open Library | OL2626918W |
| Total publications | 5 |
| Coverage period | 1997 - 1997 |
| Language | EN |
| Cited by | 16 |
| h-index | 1 |
| i10-index | 1 |
Loyalty to the community is the highest value in Native American cultures, argues Jace Weaver. In That the People Might Live, he explores a wide range of Native American literature from 1768 to the present, taking this sense of community as both a starting point and a lens. Weaver considers some of the best known Native American writers, such as Leslie Marmon Silko, Gerald Vizenor, and Vine Deloria, as well as many others who are receiving critical attention here for the first time. He contends that the single thing that most defines these authors' writings, and makes them deserving of study as a literature separate from the national literature of the United States, is their commitment to Native community and its survival. He terms this commitment "communitism" - a fusion of "community" and "activism." The Native American authors are engaged in an ongoing quest for community and write out of a passionate commitment to it. They write, literally "that the People might live."
Assimilation, Apocalypticism, and Reform (1900—1967)
The last massacre of Indians in the United States occurred on February 26, 1911, at Rabbit Creek, near Winnemucca, Nevada. Five months later, Ishi (Yahi), “the last wild Indian,” was discovered outside an abattoir near Oro ville, California, and on September 4 he took up residence at the University of California Museum of Anthropology in Berkeley. Ishi expired of respiratory failure on March 25, 1916. The last survivor of the Rabbit Creek Massacr…
Indian Literary Renaissance and the Continuing Search for Community (1968—)
The signal event in Native literature came in 1968 with the publication of House Made of Dawn by Natachee Momaday’s son, N. Scott Momaday. After the novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969, it was as if floodgates had been opened, and through them poured a steady stream of books by Natives. As Paula Gunn Allen puts it, ‘‘As the last quarter of the century has unfolded, the tiny trickle of fiction begun by Native writers during the first seventy year…
Native American Literatures and Communitism
If you can survive in today’s society and maintain your soul self, and if you can do these things and know who you are as a person, you are a true warrior. Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna) has written, “The following statement, ‘All existence is meaningless: is actually full of meaning; that is the irony of language. The act of stating what is, inevitably reminds us of what is not. Language forces meaning into existence. All barriers yield to languag…
Occom’s Razor and Ridge’s Masquerade (18th-19th Century)
Did Samson Occom shave? His portrait shows no hint of shadow. In his depiction, he resembles nothing so much as an ever so slightly dusky Dr. Johnson. Occom’s implement of the title refers, in this case, neither to a straight-edged blade nor to the rule of logic and theology but to the precise, careful, subtle, and razorlike manner in which he employed the only tools at his disposal, a shrewd intellect and a gift with words, in order to promote c…
That the People Might Live
In this book Weaver looks at Native American literature in order to reflect on Native American values and spirituality. In 500 years of contact and colonization Christianity has been unable to displace traditional religious beliefs and practice, Weaver notes, and even among Indians who consider themselves Christian, traditional ways are often still important and honored. Many practise syncretism and religious dimorphism, religious pluralism that …
That the People Might Live
In this book Weaver looks at Native American literature in order to reflect on Native American values and spirituality. In 500 years of contact and colonization Christianity has been unable to displace traditional religious beliefs and practice, Weaver notes, and even among Indians who consider themselves Christian, traditional ways are often still important and honored. Many practise syncretism and religious dimorphism, religious pluralism that …
Assimilation, Apocalypticism, and Reform (1900—1967)
The last massacre of Indians in the United States occurred on February 26, 1911, at Rabbit Creek, near Winnemucca, Nevada. Five months later, Ishi (Yahi), “the last wild Indian,” was discovered outside an abattoir near Oro ville, California, and on September 4 he took up residence at the University of California Museum of Anthropology in Berkeley. Ishi expired of respiratory failure on March 25, 1916. The last survivor of the Rabbit Creek Massacr…
Indian Literary Renaissance and the Continuing Search for Community (1968—)
The signal event in Native literature came in 1968 with the publication of House Made of Dawn by Natachee Momaday’s son, N. Scott Momaday. After the novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969, it was as if floodgates had been opened, and through them poured a steady stream of books by Natives. As Paula Gunn Allen puts it, ‘‘As the last quarter of the century has unfolded, the tiny trickle of fiction begun by Native writers during the first seventy year…
Native American Literatures and Communitism
If you can survive in today’s society and maintain your soul self, and if you can do these things and know who you are as a person, you are a true warrior. Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna) has written, “The following statement, ‘All existence is meaningless: is actually full of meaning; that is the irony of language. The act of stating what is, inevitably reminds us of what is not. Language forces meaning into existence. All barriers yield to languag…
Occom’s Razor and Ridge’s Masquerade (18th-19th Century)
Did Samson Occom shave? His portrait shows no hint of shadow. In his depiction, he resembles nothing so much as an ever so slightly dusky Dr. Johnson. Occom’s implement of the title refers, in this case, neither to a straight-edged blade nor to the rule of logic and theology but to the precise, careful, subtle, and razorlike manner in which he employed the only tools at his disposal, a shrewd intellect and a gift with words, in order to promote c…
That the People Might Live
In this book Weaver looks at Native American literature in order to reflect on Native American values and spirituality. In 500 years of contact and colonization Christianity has been unable to displace traditional religious beliefs and practice, Weaver notes, and even among Indians who consider themselves Christian, traditional ways are often still important and honored. Many practise syncretism and religious dimorphism, religious pluralism that …