Native American Literature, D
The Conquest of Mexico Through the Eyes of the Indians
230. DE ALVA IXTLILXOCHITL, D. Fernando. Horribles Crueldades de Los Conquistadores de Mexico y de Los Indios Que Los Auxiliaron para Subyugarlo a la Corona de Castilla. Mexico: Alejandro Valdes, 1829. The first publication of any of the writings of Alva Ixtlilxochitl, a descendant of the Tezcoco royal family who, while not an eyewitness to the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards in the early 16th century, was intimately familiar with the oral history of it. His writings in Nahuatl and Spanish circulated in manuscript form only until the 19th century. This publication was intended to supplement the new edition of Sahagún's Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España, which is widely considered the definitive eyewitness account of the Conquest. Alva Ixtlilxochitl's account is the Native version of the Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards and their Indian allies. Bookplate of Lucas Alamán, the Mexican statesman and historian who, among other things, twice served as Mexico's Secretary of State. Endpages edge-darkened and foxed; otherwise near fine in rubbed boards of sponge-mottled sheep.
231. DELORIA, Ella. Speaking of Indians. NY: Friendship Press (1944). An introductory, survey volume on Indians intended for non-Indian readers. By a Sioux writer, a noted ethnologist and the mother of contemporary Indian activist Vine Deloria, Jr. Owner name on title page; another name erased from cover. Wrappers moderately worn; still about very good. A fragile paperback volume, manufactured to wartime standards using cheap paper; a nice copy, when all these factors are considered.
232. -. Another copy. Shallow insect damage to front cover and spine; about very good in wrappers.
233. DELORIA, Vine, Jr. The Metaphysics of Modern Existence. NY: Harper & Row (1979). The eleventh book in Harper & Row's Native American Publishing Program. Inscribed by the author: "To ____/ Best wishes/ You have one of a few copies / Vine Deloria Jr." An uncommon title by the noted Sioux historian, scholar and activist, who was the Director of the National Congress of American Indians, and especially uncommon signed. Fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with modest edge wear and rubbing.
234. DELORIA, Vine, Jr. and LYTLE, Clifford M. American Indians, American Justice. Austin: University of Texas Press (1983). "The first book to present an overview of federal Indian law in language readily accessible to the layperson." This is the simultaneous issue in wrappers. Spine-tanned, one edge nick; very good.
235. (DELORIA, Vine, Jr.). WISE, Jennings C. The Red Man in the New World Drama. NY: Macmillan (1974). The second printing of the second edition, revised, edited and with an introduction by Deloria. First published in 1931 and re-published in 1971. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with several small marks and abrasions.
236. DINÉ TSOI, Mazii. Áhí Ni' Nikisheegiizh. Lenape Yaa Deez'á: T 'oh Ni nééh, 1989. A collection of poetry, in Navajo; part of the Princeton Collection of Western Americana. Fine in wrappers.
237. DONAHOE, Mary. You Are Mountain. (Austin): (Plain View Press) (1984). Poetry, much of it with a Native American theme but by a non-Native writer, as best we can determine. One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author on a label mounted to the colophon. Fine in stapled self-wrappers.
238. DORRIS, Michael, HIRSCHFELDER, Arlene B. and BYLER, Mary Gloyne. Guide to Research on North American Indians. Chicago: American Library Association, 1983. A reference volume that is essentially an annotated bibliography of works on American Indians, and presumably published for libraries rather than for the regular book trade. As such, a valuable reference guide to the field. Precedes Dorris's first novel by several years. Fine without dust jacket, presumably as issued. Uncommon.
239. -. Another copy. Small owner name on flyleaf; else fine, without dust jacket, presumably as issued.
240. DORRIS, Michael. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. NY: Henry Holt (1987). The second printing of his highly praised first novel. Dorris was a professor at Dartmouth College and responsible for starting the Native American Studies Program there and was of Irish, French and Modoc Indian descent himself. He was married to writer Louise Erdrich, also part-Native American, and the two co-wrote several books; they claimed in interviews to have collaborated on all their books, including her bestselling and award-winning novels as well as this book and Dorris' book of nonfiction, The Broken Cord, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Inscribed by the author to the wife of the President of Dartmouth College "in the pleasure of good friendship and with affection." A nice personal association copy. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
241. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. This copy belonged to John Updike and has a letter of transmittal to Updike from the publisher laid in. Fine in wrappers.
242. DORRIS, Michael. The Broken Cord. NY: Harper & Row, 1989. Dorris' account of adopting and raising an Indian boy whom he later discovered suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, a debilitating illness about which virtually nothing was known at the time of the adoption. Thus the book is both a personal memoir and a small but important piece of social history, tracking the medical profession's developing knowledge of this disease over the years. This book later became the basis for a television miniseries, dramatizing the story. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Heartland Prize and the Christopher Award. Light corner bumping; else fine in a near fine dust jacket. Laid into this copy is a long autograph letter signed by Dorris and dated March 13, 1989, to the marketing manager of Harper & Row. Two sides of one sheet of stationery, all of it an attempt to express what the recipient's own letter to Dorris had meant to him. In small part: "I've read it many times and yet there are parts that I still need to breathe while I read them....It seems like a long time that The Broken Cord has been done and gone, yet there has been very little response. It's a limbo period every author must expect but it's no easier because of that anticipation. Somehow for me, it's much harder for nonfiction too -- because these words are without the protection of being made-up....After reading your letter this project (the book? my life?) seemed in a way complete -- for yours is the ideal response...." Folded for mailing, with envelope. Fine.
243. -. Same title. Second printing. Inscribed by the author to the President of Dartmouth College and his wife; a nice association. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
244. DORRIS, Michael and ERDRICH, Louise. The Crown of Columbus. (NY): HarperCollins (1991). A collaborative novel written by the husband and wife team for the quincentenary of Columbus' expedition to America and, in particular, incorporating a Native American perspective: both authors claimed ancestry that was in part Native American. Signed by Erdrich and Dorris. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
245. (DORRIS, Michael) SLAPIN, Beverly and Doris Seale. Books Without Bias: Through Indian Eyes. Berkeley: Oyate (1988). Second edition. Edited by Beverly Slapin and Doris Seale. Reference book for charting an Indian perspective on cultural and multicultural issues. Includes Dorris' `I' is Not for Indian" and "Why I'm Not Thankful for Thanksgiving." Also includes work by many other Indian writers, including Joseph Bruchac, Paula Gunn Allen, Luci Tapahonso, and others. 8 1/2" x 11" sheets; ringbound in cardstock covers; fine.
246. (DORRIS, Michael). JACKSON, Helen Hunt. Ramona. NY: New American Library (1988). First printing of this edition, the Signet Classic printing of Jackson's 1884 novel, with a 14-page introduction by Dorris. Minor foredge foxing; near fine in wrappers.
247. DOWNING, Todd. The Cat Screams. Garden City: Crime Club, 1934. The second book by the author of Murder on Tour, a writer of Choctaw descent. Downing did not write about Native American themes per se, but most of his books have a Mexican setting or a Mexican connection, and the author explained his fascination for Mexico by saying that "it is the only place where the Indian element has not only held its own with the white man, but has succeeded in breeding out the white blood in exact reverse of the situation here [in the U.S.]." Very good, lacking the dust jacket.
248. -. Another copy. Owner name front pastedown; very good, lacking the dust jacket.
249. DURHAM, Jimmie. Columbus Day. (Minneapolis): West End Press, 1983. Poems, essays and drawings by a Cherokee writer who was a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and present at the siege of Wounded Knee, and who later became the head of the International Indian Treaty Committee at the United Nations, which led to the drafting of the International Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Blurb by Peter Matthiessen. Small bookstore stamp inside rear cover; very near fine in wrappers.
250. DYK, Walter. Son of Old Man Hat. NY: Harcourt, Brace (1938). "A Navaho Autobiography," which is identified as having been "recorded by" Walter Dyk. Son of Old Man Hat is a Navajo and the book is written in the first-person. With an introduction by noted linguist Edward Sapir. Written at a time when few reliable memoirs of Native Americans had been published, this was a landmark book that had scholarly credibility as well as Native authenticity. This copy has a bookplate on the front pastedown; very good in a slightly spine-faded, very good dust jacket. An important book, and uncommon in jacket.