Remnants of the First Earth
-
- $8.99
-
- $8.99
Publisher Description
The American Indian author of Black Eagle Child paints “a portrait of a writer struggling both to preserve his people’s heritage and to turn it into art” (The New York Times Book Review).
Ray A. Young Bear’s work has been called “magnificent” by the New York Times and “a national treasure” by the Bloomsbury Review. Dazzlingly original, but with deep roots in his traditional Mesquakie culture, Young Bear is a master wordsmith poised with trickster-like aplomb between the ancient world of his forefathers and the ever-encroaching “blurred face of modernity.”
Remnants of the First Earth continues the story of Edgar Bearchild—Young Bear’s fictionalized alter ego—which began with Black Eagle Child, a New York Times Notable Book for 1992. Young Bear revisits the Black Eagle Child Settlement and its residents, including Ted Facepaint, Rose Grassleggings, Junior Pipestar, Lorna Bearcap, and Luciano Bearchild. At the center of the novel is a murder investigation involving a powerful shaman holding court at the local Ramada Inn, negligent white cops from nearby Why Cheer, and corrupt tribal authorities. This lyrical narrative swirls through the present and into the mysteries of the age-old stories and myths that still haunt, inform, and enlighten this uniquely American community.
“Young Bear’s prose pulses with lyrical ferocity, blending narrative, verse and tribal myth in a seamless web . . . Young Bear, an acclaimed poet, here emerges as a major Native novelist.” —Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Narrated by the poetic and perceptive Edgar Principal Bear, alter ego of author Young Bear, this impressive first novel relates the struggles of the Native Americans living in the Black Eagle Child Settlement in Iowa. The author thus continues a story begun in his fictionalized autobiography Black Eagle Child: The Facepaint Narratives. Life in the Black Eagle Child Settlement is so permeated with ancient myths and traditions it seems timeless; for example, a rape and murder that occurred over a century ago still has a powerful impact on the community. The "first Earth" of the title refers to the epoch of the "Supernaturals," which existed before the current era. Continuation of this "second Earth" depends upon the Natives remaining faithful to the tenets of the Principal Religion, and upon their performing its ceremonies. Now, however, the people are growing lax, seduced by the "`income-generating architecture'" of casino gambling. The world is slipping out of balance and its very survival is at stake. The key may rest with Edgar, the keeper of the sacred Journals of the Six Grandfathers, 22 tattered notebooks of tribal history, lore and prophecy. Young Bear's prose pulses with lyrical ferocity, blending narrative, verse and tribal myth in a seamless web. He writes as one deeply familiar with Native tribal existence and committed to its survival, but he is unafraid to assault readers' senses and preconceptions. Young Bear, an acclaimed poet, here emerges as a major Native novelist.
