Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing.

Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing. MariJo Moore. New York: Nation Books, 2003. 352 pages. $16.95 paper.

MariJo Moore's most recent project, Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing, is a collection of thirty-three essays by various authors divided into five chapters. This fascinating and useful collection revolves around the lives of individuals existing in both the world of traditional Native values and modern society. The title, Genocide of the Mind, is dually represented both in the Native accommodation for survival and in the continual absence or perversion of Native existence in the mainstream mind. Vine Deloria, Jr. presents in the Foreword an important aspect of every essay in the collection: the survival and prosperity of Native Americans through adaptation. Moore's Introduction presents the idea that these essays are "by instead of about" Native Americans. She further clarifies that "no individual writer attempts to speak for his or her entire Nation, only from personal experiences."

The essays in the first chapter, "Keeping the Home Fires Burning in Urban Circles," address the attempts of Native Americans living in urban communities to balance their two worlds: modern and traditional. Mary Black Bonnet's "Blood Flowing in Two Worlds" addresses her personal quest for a sense of place that could not be found in academia or in her adopted family, but only in the Lakota wisdom that she learns from her elders. Moore's own essay, "Everyone Needs Someone," is included in this chapter and addresses her belief in "spiritual interconnectedness." It also presents the story of her youth torn between identifying with her white mother and her Indian grandfather in Tennessee during a time when being an Indian was not "acceptable" or "romanticized." "From Brooklyn to the Reservation: Five Poems" by Maurice Kenny specifically addresses the experience of the Native American in urban situations as well as his own frustration with the widespread misunderstanding of Native culture.

The second chapter entitled "Young American Indians: The Need to Reclaim Identity" examines Native American teenagers attempting to find identity "between two worlds, trying to belong to both." Gabriel Horn's "The Genocide of a Generation's Identity" is an exploration of how he found wisdom in his uncles who raised him and now finds himself in that same role attempting to be a guide for his teenage nephew. "We the People: Young American Indians Reclaiming Their Identity" by Lee Francis laments his belief that young tribespeople are being taught by American culture to value the individual over the People and calls for young members of tribes to learn ancient teachings of community loyalty. The essays in Chapter Three, "Native Languages: Where Will They Go From Here?" describe the ways that native languages facilitate identity within tribes and individuals and call for the revitalization of Native languages. "Don't Talk, Don't Live" by Carol Snow Moon Bachofner discusses her grandmother's acceptance and parents' rejection of the Abenaki language as well as her personal struggle to learn the language and find validation for it in her academic community. Neil McKay's essay "The Spirit of Language" discusses his joy at learning the Dakota language of his family for himself, teaching it to others, and his sons' use of it from a young age, which he feels causes them to think in Dakota. He encourages others to learn Native languages saying, "Raising a generation of fluent speakers is the start of ensuring that our people will speak Dakota in the future."

Chapter Four, "Indians as Mascots: An Issue to be Resolved," admits that most Native Americans see mascots as a residual issue, but shows that it is significant to the self-worth of Native American youth. "Symbolic Racism, History, and Reality: The Real Problem with Indian Mascots" by Kimberly Roppolo suggests that the use of Indian mascots is very important because it shows America's tendency to present indigenous peoples as caricatures, thereby relieving the hegemonic culture of the more troublesome issues of its history of neglect and malice toward American Indians.

The final chapter, "Who We Are, Who We Are Not: Memories, Misconceptions, and Modifications," includes eleven contributions. The first essay, "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit" by Leslie Marmon Silko, speaks to the traditional Pueblo acceptance of people with differences: homosexuals, transgender individuals, and hunchbacks. She also presents the stories of Yellow Woman and the traditional Pueblo understanding of women. "She's Nothing Like We Thought" is a small collection of poetry and prose by Molly McGlennen that addresses her personal mixed identities. Eric Gansworth's "Identification Pleas" tells the story of his attempt to cross back into the United States from Mexico without adequate identification, interspersed with flashbacks about the many different ethnicities for which he has been mistaken and his attempt to find his own external way of representing his "Indian-ness." "The Indians are Alive" by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve addresses the fact that many Americans are not aware that people of indigenous backgrounds still exist and suggests that education about Native Americans should begin with children's literature.

This collection of poetry and prose, personal experience and theoretical exploration, seems to be only loosely connected from the theme of one section to the next, but is united in its ability to present, with each new essay, the experiences and wisdom of its authors as present-day Native Americans. The tone ranges from the slightly angry manner of Gabriel Horn to the joyful hope of Neil McKay to the eloquent academic rhetoric of Kimberly Roppolo. The triumph of Moore as an editor is compiling this range of tones and viewpoints to present the reader with a variety of Native American experiences, viewpoints, and issues that stand independent of editorial interference. The beauty of the collection is its concerted effort to avoid attempting to speak for all Natives Americans. While the essays can be read individually for pleasure or contemplation, the collection as a whole serves as a resource for personal reflection and discussion as these authors present non-stereotypical modern Native experiences.

Jill M. Parrott

Auburn University