Anishinaabe Songs for a New Millennium

by Marcie R. Rendon

Poem-songs summon the voices of Anishinaabe ancestors and sing to future generations

The ancestors that walk with us, sing us our song. When we get quiet enough, we can hear them sing and make them audible to people today. In Anishinaabe Songs for a New Millennium, Marcie R. Rendon, a member of the White Earth Nation, summons those ancestors' songs, and so begins the dream singing for generations yet to come. "The Anishinaabe heard stories in their dream songs," Ojibwe author Gerald Vizenor wrote, and like those stories once inscribed in pictographs on birch-bark scrolls, Rendon's poem-songs evoke the world still unfolding around us, reflecting our place in time for future generations. Through dream-songs and poem-songs responding to works of theater, choral music, and opera, Rendon brings memory to life, the senses to attention-to see the moonbeams blossoming on the windowsill, to feel the hold of the earth, to hear the echo of grandmother's breath, to lie on the bones of ancestors and feel the rhythms of silence running deep. Her singing, breaking the boundaries that time would impose, carries the Anishinaabe way of life and way of seeing forward in the world.

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous

88 pages, Paperback

Published July 16, 2024

About the author

Marcie R. Rendon is an enrolled member of the White Earth Anishinabe Nation. She is a mother, grandmother, writer, and performance artist. A recipient of the Loft's Inroads Writers of Color Award for Native Americans, she studied under Anishinabe author Jim Northrup. Her first children's book is Pow Wow Summer (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2014). Murder on the Red River is her debut novel.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

singing songs ahead
to future generations
creating visions
of the world we want to see
so that on their day of
hearing
they will know we sat
and in the quiet of our minds
sang a song of beauty forward
and dreamt a
loving day

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Bridie]

You may or may not know I am not normally one for poetry but sometimes I am

[Malli (Chapter Malliumpkin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely not me getting emotional and crying while reading this book. This was such a powerful, beautifully written book. As I was reading, though I was reading fast, I made sure to pause after each page to let the words to sit with me, to really sink in. It made me miss my family and want to fly out to the rez to see them, to be bathed in their wisdom and love. It also made me think of my ancestors and everything they endured and to think about the future, what's to come. It was just a really wonderful reading experience and I also want to say that in the acknowledgements, when the author apologizes for any misspelling and being gentle with each other as we learn. That whole line hit me so hard because I struggle all the time with writing Apache and reading that line just made me so mushy. Overall, I definitely recommend this book especially to my fellow Indigenous readers. As I said, this was emotional read for me in so many ways and I have no doubt that I'm going to be thinking back to this a plethora of times for the rest of the year.


All thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions are honest and my own.


Instagram|Ko-fi|Throne

[Troy Tradup · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Win or lose, there's dancing to be done."

[Maileen Hamto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancestral dreams in Turtle Island are paramount in the melodious poem songs and dream songs in Marcie R. Rendon’s poetry collection, “Anishinaabe Songs for the Millennium.” A White Earth Ojibwe, Rendon composed new works from the ancient songs of the Ojibwe, short poem songs inscribed on birch bark. The poet credits the influential works of Ojibwe author Gerald Vizenor for inspiring her own writing style. Rendon’s powerful poems speak layers of truth about the Ojibwe people's remarkable resilience in surviving the violence of colonization, caring for the land, and kindling the wishes and prayers of generations yet to come, a testament to their collective strength and endurance that is truly admirable.

Poetry thrives in brevity and economy. Rendon’s poems honor both the modern craft and the lyrical traditions of her people. While I appreciated learning about the origin of the form, what was most powerful for me was understanding how the Ojibwe received stories in their dreams. Rendon’s dream songs, with their profound expressions of hope and aspiration, not only inspire a sense of optimism for enveloping future generations in flourishing and tenderness, but also serve as a beacon of hope, a testament to the enduring power of the Ojibwe culture that continues to shine brightly.

"call the winds of healing
sing your grief into being
call the winds of grief
sing your healing into being"

In my personal journey of decolonization, I find resonance in the Ojibwe culture's emphasis on the natural world and feminine power. While Ojibwe culture was not matriarchal, the role of mothers and grandmothers in nurturing the land and dreaming of a thriving society is a testament to their strength and vision. A dream song that begins with “woman / you are strength” culminates in the following lines of affirmation and empowerment.

"you are
the keeper
of a nation
yet to be born"

As in dream states, time is fluid and non-linear. The collection includes one particularly powerful poem followed by a narrative in which Rendon shares how, in some accounts of Columbus’ first encounters with native peoples, the infamous colonizer called them “children of God,” thus creating the term “Indios.” This story is a departure from popular versions of the origin of the word as it applies to Indigenous communities. I come from a people also labeled Indios by the Spanish. Reclaiming the word “Indios” – a derogatory comment – seems aptly placed in a collection of poem songs evoking what lies ahead for Indigenous communities, a powerful act of empowerment and self-assertion.

[Daniel Kleven · Rating 5 out of 5]

"One of Rendon's many successes was being listed as one of the top 30 Native writers in the country by Oprah Magazine in 2020."

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/12...

And she lives in my neighborhood in Minneapolis. This is a wonderful collection of poetry from over the decades, some really wonderful stuff in here. Here's a favorite:

singing songs ahead
to future generations
creating vision
of the world we want to see
so that on their day of
hearing
they will know we
sat
and in the quiet of our minds
sang a song of beauty forward
and dreamt a
loving day

[Reagan Kapasi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked: Beautifully concise. Dislike: Otherworldly.

[Robyn]

Notables 2024 #167

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dream songs and spirit songs that read like a long healing trance.