Joseph Marshall III

I relished this volume, letting each story or essay sit with me a while before continuing to the next one.

The first two-thirds of this volume are short stories with a strong sense of here and us about them, the kind of stories that people tell each other as examples of what the world is and how it fits around them. The stories are simply and cleanly told, without narrative surprises---but narrative surprises aren't the point of such stories. Even though the content of some of the stories is objectively horrible---a man incarcerated for thirty years over a miscommunication with social workers, for example---there's a warm, enduring strength conveyed in each that I found deeply comforting.

The last third of the volume is essays on Lakotan heritage. The respect I felt for the author on the basis of the stories doubled when I started working through the essays. Throughout, Marshall's perspective is that of a teacher, assuming that the reader is of goodwill, yet largely unfamiliar with Lakotan perspectives.

"To be Indian is to be aware of the trail we have walked as indigenous peoples, and, at the same time, to know that it is possible to survive and thrive within the larger society. We may not have had a choice about our bloodlines, but we did, and do, have a choice about completing our identities by acquiring heritage. Then and only then can we know and understand the essence of being Indian---an essence that transcends the burden of any labels."… (more)