The Everlasting Sky: Voices of the Anishinabe People

by Gerald Vizenor

Vizenor's classic first book provides a unique view of reservation life in the late 1960s and early 1970s and the early days of the American Indian Movement.

Gerald Vizenor, named to  Utne Reader 's list of one hundred "people who could change your life," has been a significant force in Native American literature and criticism for decades. In this, his classic first book of essays, Vizenor presents a stark but vital view of reservation life in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a collection that Studies in American Indian Literatures called "memorable portraits of real people who defied yet finally were overcome by the dominant society."

Focusing on the people of the northern reservations, particularly the White Earth Reservation where he grew up, Vizenor puts a human face on those desperate and politically charged times that saw frequent government intervention and the emergence of the American Indian Movement (AIM). In his trademark style, Vizenor juxtaposes these snapshots of contemporary life against images and dream sequences from Anishinabe folktales and ceremonies. As the Chronicle of Higher Education has observed, Vizenor's "paradoxical achievement has been to garner a reputation as an innovative avant-garde writer by embracing, and revitalizing, ancient oral storytelling traditions."

In an introduction composed especially for this edition, Vizenor reflects on the changes that occurred on the reservations in the previous decades and updates the lives of this fascinating and various cast of characters.

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1972

About the author

Gerald Robert Vizenor is an Anishinaabe writer and scholar, and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Reservation. Vizenor also taught for many years at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was Director of Native American Studies. With more than 30 books published, Vizenor is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico.

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anishinabe in Search of Themselves

From the moment Columbus stepped ashore in the Bahamas, the native peoples of America began to lose their identity. After all, he called them "Indians". Subsequent generations stereotyped and re-stereotyped the American peoples into caricatures and unreal children of nature (or else whooping attackers of wagon trains, disturbing the work of settling a new continent----their continent !). Where did those Anishinabe of the northern woodlands (and others) ever go ? If you hammer people with garbage long enough, they could begin to believe in junk themselves. When everybody seems to think you're an alcoholic loser, you might begin to feel so yourself. That's what was happening in Minnesota and Wisconsin back in the early 1970s where the Anishinabe still dwelt on several reservations and in the Minneapolis-St. Paul urban area. It was a time of Black Power, Red Power, and any other kind of power movement, a period of clenched, raised fists, a loud cacophony of voices saying "this Great Society you're talking about ain't so great. We want a say in how we're governed. We want the police off our backs. We want some of that 'truth, justice, and the American way'. It's not just for some, it's for all the people." And isn't it ?

THE EVERLASTING SKY was written as part of that upsurge of pride, identity formation, and demand for justice in the `60s and `70s. [*I read the first edition, though it has been re-issued.] It is written by an Anishinabe poet mainly for Anishinabe readers and to establish a valid claim, to point out the myriad injustices as well as admit to some faults on the Anishinabe side. I see it as a fair and useful book for the native American people often labelled "Chippewa" or "Ojibway"---both whiteman names for Anishinabe. It is also a rather unorganized book, with certain types of information repeated in several places, with a lot of reiteration of various ideas, and with simplistic descriptions of Anishinabe life or thought. If you are interested in knowing much about Anishinabe culture or direction, this is not the place you're going to get it.

This is a poet writing about politics and social movements and that's certainly what it sounds like. Plus....an irritating plus....while much of the book decries how the whites have lumped all so-called Indians together, failed to see them as dreaming, thinking individuals with a sense of humor and visions of the past, the author does exactly the same thing to whites. Disappointing to say the least. If you want to say "well, that's fair retribution", OK, I can see that, but don't ask me to praise the book for such a tack. Three decades on, I wonder how the Oshki Anishinabe are doing. I wish them success in everything.

[Leeny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Years ago I had a class from Dr. Vizenor & I was teaching on the Leech Lake Reservation during the time of John Buchanaga, Will Antell, Roger Head, the Aiken brothers and many other leaders of the Chippewa peoples. I remember the Tribune reporting on the "uprising" during the AIM times. Crazy. There was peace on the Rez as well as confronting and thought-provoking conversations. I went to work as usual (I am pretty white) and saw no guns, no disruption at all.
Vizenor does a good job of discussing those times. He includes much "indian" humor and challenges continuing social mores.

[Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I really like Gerald Vizenor's writing style. The best chapter was Chapter 9 - No One Else Can Represent My Conscience. However, all the chapters are good. This book makes you reflect on your views and your ideas about the oshki anishnabe.

I'm going to read more of Gerald Vizenor's books.