I Remember the Fallen Trees: New and Selected Poems
- Book Review,
by Elizabeth Cook-Lynn
From the Back Cover
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn is well acquainted with Saeva indignatio, that Swiftian sensibility which troubles the spirit of one who speaks for a people whose lands have been stolen from them, whose means of livelihood have been all but extinguished, whose spiritual valor has been derided and caricatured by their oppressors - while at the same time they are envied for their constancy and respect for life in all its rich forms. This generous collection of her poems will undoubtedly be as controversial as her previous book of essays, Why I Can't Read Wallace Stegner (Wisconsin, 1996); but her bold satires and eloquent lyrics are hardly likely to be misunderstood. In this work, without casting aside the mantle of a foremost scholar of Indian history and current cultural affairs (she is editor of the eminent Wicazo Sa Review), Ms. Cook-Lynn joyfully and courageously embraces the people and the world she knows and loves: scolds their detractors, scarifies their enemies, sings and dances with them, loves them as much for their sins as for their virtues; venerates them. Thus through her sorrowful, mocking, searing indignation, we participate in her celebration of the indestructible human spirit.
About the Author
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn is a teacher, essayist, fiction writer and poet. A member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, she was born on the reservation at Fort Thompson, South Dakota, in 1930. From 1971 until 1991 she taught English and Native American Studies at Eastern Washington University, before returning to live in South Dakota and write full-time. She is also the author of The Power of Horses, (Short Stories, Arcade, 1990), From the River's Edge, (Novel, Arcade 1991), and most recently, co-written with Mario Gonzalez, The Politics of Hallowed Ground: Wounded Knee and the Struggle for Indian Sovereignty, (Essays , University of Illinois, 1998).
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