Black Eagle Child: The Facepaint Narratives

by Ray A. Young Bear

Mixing prose and poetry, ancient traditions and modern sensibilities, this brilliant, profane, and poignant coming-of-age story is a masterpiece of Native American literature At a Thanksgiving party held in a Bureau of Indian Affairs gymnasium, the elders of the Meskwaki Settlement in central Iowa sip coffee while the teenagers plot their escape. Edgar Bearchild and Ted Facepaint, too broke to join their friends for a night of drinking in a nearby farm town, decide to attend a ceremonial gathering of the Well-Off Man Church, a tribal sect with hallucinogenic practices. After partaking of the congregation’s sacred star medicine, Edgar receives a prophetic vision and comes to a newfound understanding of his people’s past and present that will ultimately reshape the course of his life.   Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous 1960s, Black Eagle Child is the story of Edgar’s passage from boyhood to manhood, from his youthful misadventures with Ted, to his year at prestigious liberal arts college in California, to his return to Iowa and success as a poet. Deftly crossing genre boundaries and weaving together a multitude of tones and images—from grief to humor, grape Jell-O to supernatural strobe lights—it is also an unforgettable portrait of what it means to be a Native American in the modern world.

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Native American, Native Americans, Indigenous

319 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1992

About the author

Ray Young Bear (born 1950 in Marshalltown, Iowa) is a Native American poet and novelist of the Meskwaki tribe. He writes about contemporary Native Americans in English and in the Meskwaki language.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the easiest book to fall into. There is a surreal, dreamy quality to the story telling that challenged my reader's brain. At first, I felt detached from the storyline and was just trying to quantify the plot etc in ways that were natural to my sensibilities. I persisted through my initial disconnect and began to better absorb the flow and style of storytelling. Once I got to that point, it was a powerful statement of the very complex experience of growing up Native American in some of the last decades of the 20th century. If you go the distance, this is a rewarding read.

[Abrahm]

Ray A. Youngbear really changed the way I look at the written word and storytelling. His tales reach out from a place of intimate experience and hold you. Oftentimes parts of his work leaves me with the same eerie feeling Haruki Murakami is so good at conjuring.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of native american novels and this one is so strange and so enrapturing. Read it now.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book-- it took me a while to figure out what I thought of it, but once I understood the structure, I thought it was genius. I liked it even more after reading the afterword. This book is disorienting, and I struggled with that disorientation for about half the book-- and then I figured out what was going on. Well, sort of. I think part of the book's goal is to be disorienting, because it's all about the disorientation of being Native American. There is some gorgeous language, too. My advice: hold on for the ride and just experience it.

[Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must admit that this book challenged me. Although the characters and story were interesting enough, the writing felt disjointed, and I struggled to understand the direction it was going. I understand that this may have been intentional for various reflective reasons, but my expectations for this book were not met. This is no fault on the author; it just shows that I may not have been the target audience.

[Cheryl Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An episodic book that reads like linked stories, though much of it is formatted as verse. Grove Press, the publisher, categorized it as fiction, and I would go along with that. The narratives are at times funny, sad, scary, and surreal, by turns and all at once. I think I liked the scary surrealism the best! I appreciated the glimpse into a world where I'm a foreigner, which is situated a relatively short drive from my home in Iowa.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the raw Native writing style of this book, but it often felt at odds with itself - the narrator's naivety begins to read as an intentional non-processing of the more harmful aspects of their tribal life. I think any reader not already familiar with Native literature would have a difficult time picking this book up and delving into it.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and a fascinating set of stories.

[Kelsey]

I struggled with the narration but that's likely more my issue. I struggle with books written in verse (I can't always get the rhythm right when reading in my head) and the majority of this is in verse. But the story is worthwhile and overall I enjoyed it. Paperback.

[Jason Karr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing...loved it