The creatures of Native American myth and the urban realities of
Oakland, California, come together in Vizenor's (The Heirs of
Columbus, 1991, etc.) latest excursion, making full use of his
penchant for transforming the commonplace into the mysterious and
comic. With chapters and contents conforming to seven cards in the
wanaki (which means "to live somewhere in peace") game of chance, a
variety of animal experiences interweave amusingly with the human
condition. The worlds of bears, fleas, squirrels, mantis, crows,
beavers, and tricksters - the wild card in the game - appear in
turn, all triggered by an encounter with an old tribal woman,
Bagese Bear, in an aviary as she conversed with a cage of crows. In
her apartment cluttered with mirrors, stones, and other elements of
the game, she tells her stories to the narrator ("Laundry") - tales
of the living voices of the tree line that are meant to counteract
the dead voices of the city. Thus a society of fleas organize
themselves to wage total war against an exterminator, a war they
win through an alliance with neighborhood birds; the male mantis
Mikado, seasoned warrior, escapes a trap set by a coldhearted blond
scientist more predatory than her female mantis counterparts; in
the trickster segment, a young tribal woman builds a thriving
company based on Touch the Earth birch cups, which decompose
quickly and are made to be thrown away as trash, prompting a
congressional inquiry. Bagese disappeared without a trace from her
Oakland apartment one day, but can still be glimpsed in the form of
a bear in one of her mirrors, now belonging to the narrator, who
celebrates her wisdom by publishing her stories even though she
asked him not to. Lively and evocative tales - loosely linked as a
single narrative yet closely tied to the game's ritual actions -
that reveal much about the survival of Native American traditions
in the cities and the perils involved in listening to dead voices.
A witty but serious warning. (Kirkus Reviews)
Gerald Vizenor gives life to traditional tribal stories by
presenting them in a new perspective: he challenges the idyllic
perception of rural life, offering in its stead an unusual vision
of survival in the cities-the sanctuaries for humans and animals.
It is a tribal vision, a quest for liberation from forces that
would deny the full realization of human possibilities. In this
modern world his characters insist upon survival through an
imaginative affirmation of the self.
In Dead Voices Vizenor, using tales drawn from traditional
tribal stories, illuminates the centuries of conflict between
American Indians and Europeans, or "wordies." Bagese, a tribal
woman transformed into a bear, has discovered a new urban world,
and in a cycle of tales she describes this world from the
perspective of animals-fleas, squirrels, mantis, crows, beavers,
and finally Trickster, Vizenor's central and unifying figure. The
stories reveal unpleasant aspects of the dominate culture and
American Indian culture such as the fur trade, the educational
system, tribal gambling, reservation life, and in each the animals,
who represent crossbloods, connect with their tribal traditions,
often in comic fashion.
As in his other fiction, Vizenor upsets our ideas of what
fiction should be. His plot is fantastic; his story line is a
roller-coaster ride requiring that we accept the idea of
transformation, a key element in all his work. Unlike other Indian
novelists, who use the novel as a means of cultural recovery,
Vizenor finds the crossblood a cause for celebration.
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