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Native American Literature, M

NOTE: This page is from our catalog archives. The listings are from an older catalog and are on our website for reference purposes only. If you see something you're interested in, please check our inventory via the search box at upper right or our search page.
312. MANKILLER, Wilma. Mankiller. A Chief and Her People. NY: St. Martin's (1993). A history of the Cherokee people and an autobiography of the woman who was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation for a number of years. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

313. MANY GUNS, Tom. Pinto Horse Rider. Browning: Blackfeet Heritage Program (1979). A collection of family and tribal stories by an elderly member of the Blackfeet tribe, originally compiled in 1969-70 but not published until a decade later. With illustrations by Wilbur Black Weasel. A few pages roughly opened at corners, otherwise fine in stapled wrappers.

314. MARACLE, Lee. "LEE, Bobbi." Bobbi Lee: Indian Rebel. Struggles of a Native Canadian Woman. (Richmond, B.C.): (Liberation Support Movement Press) (1975). Volume 1 of a projected two-volume autobiography, edited by Don Barnett. A memoir that recounts personal history and political radicalization. Only issued in wrappers. Reissued by the Women's Press in Toronto in 1990, with Maracle's authorship more prominently credited. Name whited out on first blank; near fine in wrappers.

315. MARACLE, Lee. I Am Woman. (North Vancouver): (Write-On Press) (1988). A collection of personal stories that draw on tribal oral traditions. Maracle is a Canadian writer of Salish-Cree-Metis descent. Fine in wrappers.

316. -. Another copy. Edge tear and crease to front cover. Near fine in wrappers.

317. MARACLE, Lee. Sundogs. Penticton: Theytus Books (1992). Her first novel. Inscribed by the author. Fine in wrappers.

318. -. Another copy, unsigned. Spine slightly faded; still fine in wrappers.

319. -. Same title, the advance reading copy, stamped and labeled as such, and printed in glossier wrappers than the finished book. The label identifies this as an "uncorrected proof - contains some errors," and the text runs four pages longer than the final, published version. Fine.

320. MARSHALL, Joseph III. Winter of the Holy Iron. Santa Fe: Red Crane Books (1994). A historical novel about the coming of the white man as seen from the perspective of the Lakota, by a Lakota writer who, in addition to being a free-lance writer, has been heavily involved with tribal activities and was a co-founder of Sinte Gleska University, in Rosebud, South Dakota. Glowing blurbs by Jim Northrup and Ron Querry. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

321. MASSON, Marcelle. A Bag of Bones. (n.p.): Naturegraph (1966). A collection of legends from the Wintu tribe of California, recorded from Grant Towendolly, who is identified in the preface as "one of the last of the Wintu shamans" and whose family had a generations' long connection to the author's family. This is the issue in wrappers. Near fine.

322. MATHEWS, John Joseph. Wah'Kon-Tah. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1932. The first book by this Osage writer, a history of his tribe and an account of life on the reservation during the tenure of its first federal Indian agent, Major Laban J. Miles, whose journal entry recounting his coming to the Osage reservation provides the book's introduction. An early book in Oklahoma's "Civilization of the American Indian" series. In what may have been the most prominent distribution ever for a book by a Native American writer up to this time, this title was selected by the fledgling Book-of-the-Month Club as one of its early offerings. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. A very nice copy.

323. -. Another copy. Small bookplate on verso of front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a few small abrasions to the spine.

324. MATHEWS, John Joseph. Sundown. NY: Longmans, Green, 1934. His second book, and only novel, a novel of the American Southwest. The first modern novel by an Indian writer to deal directly with questions of "Indianness," the alienation from culture and self provoked by white men's education, and the futile attempt to become assimilated into the dominant culture. This copy bears a 1934 gift inscription from Carl Hayden, one of the most celebrated figures in Arizona political history, to Paul Getty. Hayden was elected to the U.S. Congress right after Arizona was admitted to the Union, and he later served as a Senator from Arizona for 42 years, the last twelve of which he served as president pro-tempore of the Senate. He retired in 1969. Hayden has been called the "single most important individual in shaping Arizona's growth from a sparsely settled, arid frontier territory near the beginning of the twentieth century to a modern urban state in the last half of the century." While resolutely pro-development, he was also a staunch defender of natural resources, and the Congressional bill to build Boulder Dam was only approved after a filibuster by Hayden and Arizona's other Senator, Henry Ashurst. A fine copy, lacking the dust jacket, and a nice association with an important figure in Southwestern history.

325. -. Same title. Also states "First Edition," but in a smaller, variant binding with green cloth and trimmed page edges. Owner name and date (1937); edge-sunned cloth; near fine in a fair, heavily chipped dust jacket threatening to separate along at least one fold. Very scarce in dust jacket; we've never handled another such copy.

326. MAYOKOK, Robert. Eskimo Stories. (Nome): (Nome Nugget) (1960-1967). Five Eskimo stories by an Eskimo author, and with illustrations by him. Fine in stapled wrappers and signed by the author. Mayokok is also the author of True Eskimo Stories and Eskimo Life.

327. McLUHAN, T.C. Touch The Earth. Toronto: New Press (1971). A "self-portrait of Indian existence," which uses quotes from numerous historical Indian figures to illuminate the abiding values of a Native American perspective on life and, in particular, the natural world. This is the first Canadian edition, published simultaneously with the U.S. edition done by Outerbridge and Dienstfrey (and preceding the Promontory Press edition which is commonly mistaken for a first). Very scarce in the first printing, although the book was reprinted throughout the early Seventies and became a contemporary classic and a bestseller. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a bit of sunning and spotting to the rear panel.

328. McNICKLE, D'Arcy. The Surrounded. NY: Dodd, Mead (1936). The first book by McNickle, a writer of Flathead Indian descent, and a landmark Native American novel, one of the early books to address questions of assimilation and alienation from both the white way of life and traditional tribal culture. It began the process in American Indian literature of looking for value in traditional Native American beliefs even in the face of such alienation. As such, Charles Larson's seminal study of Native American literature (American Indian Fiction, Albuquerque, 1978) links McNickle with N. Scott Momaday -- thirty years McNickle's junior -- as the two writers who predate the later wave of politically aware Native American writers such as James Welch and Leslie Marmon Silko. This is a near fine copy in a very good, spine-faded jacket that is chipped and externally tape-repaired at the spine crown. Although this book dates from the modern era, this is the only copy we have ever seen or heard of with the dust jacket intact. An important novel and a modern rarity in dust jacket.

329. -. Another copy. This copy has a gift inscription on the flyleaf, a bookplate on the front pastedown and a small puncture to the foredge; still a near fine copy of a modern classic, lacking the rare dust jacket.

330. McNICKLE, D'Arcy and McCASKILL, Joseph C. La Politica de los Estados Unidos sobre los Gobiernos Tribales y las Empresas Comunales de los Indios. Washington: National Indian Institute/Department of the Interior, 1942. A publication in Spanish on the laws governing Indian tribes and communal businesses, co-written by McNickle and, as such, his second book. Never published in English and not mentioned at all in the recent definitive study of McNickle's life and work. Approximately 40 pages including the Appendix. Near fine in stapled wrappers. A very scarce work by arguably the most important Indian writer ever, whose work helped pave the way for later generations of Native authors.

331. McNICKLE, D'Arcy. They Came Here First. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1949). The second regularly published book by this Flathead writer, a one-volume overview of American Indian history. A near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with several very small chips, including one at mid-spine. A very nice copy of a not particularly common book.

332. McNICKLE, D'Arcy. Wind From an Enemy Sky. San Francisco: Harper & Row (1978). His last novel, published just after he died. The tenth volume in Harper & Row's Native American Publishing Program. This is the publisher's file copy and is stamped as such on the front flyleaf and top page edges. Fine in a very close to fine dust jacket, and quite scarce thus: the jacket is notoriously susceptible to wear.

333. McNICKLE, D'Arcy. The Hawk is Hungry. Tucson: University of Arizona Press (1992). The uncorrected proof copy of this posthumously published collection of stories. Fine in ringbound cardstock covers. Presumably a very small number of these would have been prepared.

334. (McNICKLE, D'Arcy). PURDY, John Lloyd. Word Ways. The Novels of D'Arcy McNickle. Tucson: University of Arizona Press (1990). The first full-length study of McNickle's novels. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

335. MEDAWAR, Mardi Oakley. People of the Whistling Waters. Encampment: Affiliated Writers of America (1993). The first novel by this Eastern Cherokee writer, winner of the Western Writers Award for Best First Novel of the year. A novel of the Crow tribe during a critical period in their history, from 1854 to 1876. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a tiny nick at the spine base.

336. MEDAWAR, Mardi Oakley. Death at Rainy Mountain. NY: St. Martin's (1996). Her second novel and first mystery in the series that features Kiowa healer Tay-Bodal. The series has been highly praised for its historical accuracy and authenticity. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

337. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.

338. MEDICINE CROW, Joseph. From the Heart of the Crow Country. NY: Orion (1992). The uncorrected proof copy. A memoir and collection of Crow tales by a Crow Indian whose grandfathers were pre-reservation traditionalists, and who grew up with one of Custer's six Crow scouts. Fine in wrappers.

339. MITCHELL, Emerson Blackhorse and ALLEN, T.D. Miracle Hill. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press (1967). "The story of a Navaho boy," an autobiographical account by Mitchell, now an esteemed artist and a teacher at Red Mesa High School and Navajo Community College, written with Allen's guidance and assistance. Fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with light foxing and lighter edge wear.

340. MOCKINGBIRD, Jon. The Wokosani Road. NY: Exposition Press (1963). Vanity press novel of a half-blood Apache after World War II who gets involved in a murder. Subtitled "a novel of Indian lore in the Southwest." Like his main character, the author is half-Apache. Vanity press novels such as this are extremely scarce: in a class-action suit brought against several vanity publishers by a group of authors, the court determined that these books were, in effect, never published -- the publisher having printed them up and charged the authors for them, warehoused them for a time and then destroyed them, making no serious efforts to "publish" the books -- i.e., to make them available to the public. This is a fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket slightly rubbed at the folds.

341. MOMADAY, Natachee Scott. Owl in the Cedar Tree. (n.p.): Ginn and Company, 1965. A scarce children's book by the mother of Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday. Text about a modern Navajo boy, with illustrations by Don Perceval. Signed by the author. Erasure front flyleaf; else a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a bit of dampstaining and rubbing and a few small gutter nicks. Very scarce in any jacket.

342. -. Another copy. Gift inscription front flyleaf and price erasure there; else fine, lacking the scarce dust jacket.

343. MOMADAY, N. Scott. In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and Poems 1961-1991. New York: St. Martin's (1992). Limited edition of this collection, one of 1000 unnumbered copies, signed by Momaday on the color frontispiece. Fine without dust jacket, in slipcase, as issued.

344. MOMADAY, N. Scott. Circle of Wonder. Santa Fe: Clear Light (1994). A children's book, being a Native American Christmas story, written and illustrated by Momaday. Signed by the author. Thin quarto, with color illustrations throughout. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

345. MOMADAY, N. Scott. In the Bear's House. NY: St. Martin's Press (1999). The advance reading copy of this collection of poems, paintings and tales on the theme of Bear. Thin quarto; fine in wrappers.

346. (MOMADAY, N. Scott). The Complete Poems of Frederick Goddard Tuckerman. NY: Oxford University Press, 1965. A review copy of this collection, edited and with an introduction by Momaday, and preceding his first book by two years. With a critical foreword by Yvor Winters. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with slight sunning and wrinkling at the spine, and review slip laid in.

347. -. Another copy. Owner name on flyleaf; else fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with shallow edge wear.

348. (MOMADAY, N. Scott). PAINTER, An. A Coyote in the Garden. Lewiston: Confluence Press (1988). A collection of haiku, mostly about the Southwest, edited and with a foreword by Momaday. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a small dampstain at the spine base.

349. MONTEJO, Victor. The Bird Who Cleans the World and Other Mayan Fables. (Willimantic): Curbstone Press (1991). Mayan stories collected by an author who is half-Mayan and grew up in Jacaltenango, Guatemala, where these stories originated. Signed by the author. Corners bumped; else fine in like dust jacket. This collection was called by Joseph Bruchac "easily the best and the most authentic collection encountered from Central American native traditions."

350. -. Same title, the first paperback edition. (Willimantic): Curbstone Press (1992). Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.

351. MONTEJO, Victor. Sculpted Stones. (Willimantic): Curbstone Press (1995). Poetry, translated by Victor Perera. The poems express the traditional values of Mayan culture and reveal the Guatemalan government's attempt to destroy the indigenous people. Montejo fled from Guatemala when his brother was killed by soldiers and his own name appeared on a death squad list. Only issued in wrappers. Fine, and signed by the author.

352. MORGAN, Speer. The Whipping Boy. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. The advance reading copy of this novel by a white writer, about a half-Indian boy in Oklahoma in 1894. Fine in wrappers.

353. MOURNING DOVE. Co-Ge-We-A. The Half-Blood. Boston: Four Seas (1927). Mourning Dove (Christine Quiinstasket) has been called "the first Native American novelist to organically incorporate aspects of the daily life, the oral tradition, and the religious perspectives of an Indian people into a novel." Cogewea, the Half-Blood is, in this sense, the first modern American Indian novel. It was edited, to the point of being virtually co-written, by L.V. McWhorter, a white who was an amateur historian and a passionate advocate of the value of Indian culture, which he saw as being widely denigrated by whites and on the verge of being completely destroyed. McWhorter inserted whole sections of passionate, angry exposition decrying this assault on Native American culture -- with admirable intent and horrible literary consequences: he essentially compromised the narrative voice and literary integrity of the work. According to contemporary scholars, however, it is possible to separate the work of Mourning Dove from that of McWhorter, and the portion that emerges as Mourning Dove's shows her to rightly be, as she has been called, "the literary grandmother of the Native American Renaissance." Bookplate partially removed from front pastedown; spot to foredge; near fine. A supremely important volume in the canon of Native American literature.

354. -. Another copy. Apparently a second issue, lacking a photographic frontispiece tipped in opposite the title page and bearing instead an errata sheet tipped to the contents page. Very near fine.

355. MOURNING DOVE. Coyote Stories. Caldwell: Caxton Printers, 1933. Very scarce collection, edited and illustrated by Heister Dean Guie, with notes by L.V. McWhorter, and a foreword by Chief Standing Bear. This copy is signed by Mourning Dove and Guie. Front hinge starting, corners abraded; a very good copy, lacking the dust jacket. Laid in is a small photograph of Guie.

356. -. Another copy. Very near fine with much of the dust jacket laid in (four separate pieces accounting for all but the bottom half of the spine).

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