Native American Literature, T-Z
494. TAPAHONSO, Luci. A Breeze Swept Through. (Albuquerque): West End Press, 1987. The third book, a collection of poetry by this Navajo writer, with illustrations by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, a Flathead artist. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in wrappers.
495. TAPAHONSO, Luci. Sáanii Dahataa , the Women Are Singing. Tucson: University of Arizona Press (1993). The hardcover issue of this collection of poems and stories, published as Vol. 23 of the Sun Tracks series. Fine, without dust jacket, apparently as issued. Books in the Sun Track series are typically issued simultaneously in paperback and hardcover, with the preponderance of the print run being issued in softcover.
496. TIBBLES, T.H. The Ponca Chiefs. Boston: J.S. Lockwood, 1887. Subtitled "An Indian's Attempt to Appeal from the Tomahawk to the Courts, with Some Suggestions Toward a Solution of the Indian Question." With an introduction by Susette La Flesche Tibbles, a.k.a Inshta Theamba (Bright Eyes), daughter of one of the Omaha chiefs and wife of the author. A reissue of a book originally published in 1879 under a slightly different title. Still, an early appearance in print by a Native American woman writer. University stamps (and discard stamp); text tight, but fragile wrappers chipping and splitting along the folds, thus only a good copy.
497. (Tlingit). Raven's Bones. Sitka: Sitka Community Association, 1982. A guide to the Southeast Alaska Native Tlingit people, encompassing poetry, mythology, sociology, linguistics and sustenance. Edited by Andrew Hope III, a Tlingit. Includes "Home Country" by Simon Ortiz. Very near fine in wrappers.
498. TRAVELLER BIRD. The Path to Snowbird Mountain. NY: FSG (1972). Cherokee legends retold for young people by a writer of Cherokee-Shawnee-Comanche heritage. Small ink stamp front flyleaf; else fine in a near fine, spine-faded and slightly rubbed dust jacket. Uncommon.
499. TRIMBLE, Stephen. The People. Santa Fe: SAR Press (1993). Text and photographs by Trimble documenting the Indians of the Southwest. Trimble is one of the foremost writers and photographers of the western wildlands, and he has written several books on southwestern Indian tribes. Signed by the author in the year of publication. This is the hardcover issue. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
500. TRUDELL, John. Living in Reality. Songs Called Poems. (n.p.): (Common Wealth Printing) (1982). The very scarce first book by this Sioux poet/activist, who was a founder and National Chairman of the radical American Indian Movement during the 1970s -- a turbulent time of Native American political activism. Trudell became the spokesman for the Indians of All Tribes who occupied Alcatraz Island, which led to the founding of AIM. He was the Chair of AIM during the Wounded Knee siege and the Pine Ridge battle that left two FBI agents and one Indian youth dead and resulted in Leonard Peltier's conviction and incarceration for murder. Trudell's own family, his wife and three children, were killed in a fire set by an arsonist, which Trudell has long considered to have been an attempt to strike back at him for his radical activism and militancy, including his advocacy of the use of violence in pursuing claims of Native rights. He appeared in the documentary film about Peltier, Incident at Oglala, and was later cast as a charismatic Indian leader in the fictionalized film version of that story, Thunderheart. He is a musician as well as a poet and is also known as an eloquent speaker, both as a political leader and, more recently, as a guest lecturer. Blended stain to front cover; near fine in wrappers. A very scarce book; we have only had one other copy over the years.
501. TRUDELL, John. Stickman. NY: Inanout Press, 1994. Writings by the former AIM leader -- poems, lyrics and talks -- with a lengthy interview with Paola Igliori. Illustrated with photographs. Rear cover abraded near the lower edge; near fine in selfwrappers.
502. UDE, Wayne. Becoming Coyote. (Amherst): Lynx House Press (1981). The simultaneous issue in wrappers of his second book, first novel. Ude, who was born in Minnesota and grew up near the Fort Belknap Reservation, has since written several books focusing on Coyote, including recounting traditional coyote tales and exploring other trickster figures. With the ownership signature of author Terry Tempest Williams. Fine.
503. VERNON, Judy. Cousins. Memphis: St. Luke's Press (1985). A novel of interracial relations in the South, by a writer who is part American Indian. Jacket pattern sunning to boards; else fine in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with light wear.
504. VILLASEÑOR, David. Tapestries in Sand. Happy Camp: Naturegraph, 1966. The revised edition of this explication of the traditional texts of Indian sandpainting, considered something of a classic in its field. This is the issue in wrappers. Faint crown bump; else fine.
505. VIZENOR, Gerald Robert. South of the Painted Stones. (Minneapolis): (n.p.), (1963). The fourth book by this writer of Chippewa descent, who is considered the most overtly postmodern of the contemporary Native American writers, writing experimental fiction with much self-reference and reflection and forgoing realism to create a more self-conscious frame of reference that draws heavily on traditional myths and tales, using them -- and the often comic juxtapositions they provide -- as a means of transcending the process of victimization and confronting the larger crises of a contemporary urban, technological society. Vizenor is also a respected critic, and he teaches literature at the University of California. His earliest books were poetry, including collections of haiku. This book of poetry was apparently self-published, as were the ones that preceded it. Trace edge sunning; still fine in stapled wrappers. A scarce, early book by a very important Native American writer.
506. VIZENOR, Gerald Robert. Raising the Moon Vines. Minneapolis: Callimachus (1964). A collection of haiku. Signed by the author. Fine in stapled wrappers and a near fine dust jacket with tiny chips at the corners of the spine. Again, a scarce, early title by this important writer.
507. VIZENOR, Gerald Robert. Empty Swings. (Minneapolis): Nodin Press (1967). Another collection of haiku. Vizenor has been writing since the late 1950s, although his books prior to 1970 are poetry and are exceptionally scarce. Sticker shadow front cover; near fine in wrappers.
508. VIZENOR, Gerald. Matsushima. Minneapolis: Nodin Press (1984). His sixth book of haiku. Fine in wrappers.
509. VIZENOR, Gerald. The Trickster of Liberty. Tribal Heirs to a Wild Baronage. Minneapolis: U. of Minnesota Press (1988). A collection of stories on the Trickster theme, as applied to contemporary life. This is the hardcover issue. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
510. VIZENOR, Gerald. Water Striders. (Santa Cruz): (Moving Parts Press) (1989). A broadside, with a series of four haiku poems and drawings by Marada Edelstein. One of 85 copies printed on Gilbert Oxford text paper. Approximately 30" x 11 1/4", accordion folded to 5 3/4" x 11 1/4". Fine.
511. -. Same title. One of 15 numbered copies signed by Vizenor. This issue printed on Magnani Incisioni and unfolded, by design. Again, approximately 30" x 11", this one unfolded and apparently not intended to be. Probably the smallest limitation of any Vizenor publication, and one of the scarcest items in his body of work. Very faint marginal edge crease; else fine.
512. WALLIS, Velma. Two Old Women. Fairbanks: Epicenter (1993). The highly praised first book by this writer of Athabascan descent, which updates and adapts an Athabascan legend. Winner of the 1993 Western States Book Award for creative nonfiction. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
513. (Water Rights). MEACHAM, Charlotte. Land, Water and People. Unpublished, c. 1977. 45 pages, plus appendix. A report on water rights in southern California and the Southwest, including Indian water rights claims and their possible impact on the region. Stapled photocopied sheets; fine. Laid into an illustrated folder torn at the spine and showing offsetting from glue on the cover; good.
514. WATERS, Frank. Masked Gods. (Albuquerque): Univ. of New Mexico Press (1950). Waters' classic book on Navajo and Pueblo ceremonials, one of the first books to sympathetically explore Native American spirituality. Owner name and date on title page; near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket. An attractive copy of an important book by one of the leading writers on the American Southwest.
515. WATERS, Frank. Book of the Hopi. NY: Viking (1963). A landmark volume relating the worldview of the Hopis, as compiled by Waters from the tales of thirty Hopi elders. A matter of some controversy in recent times -- some people have questioned the authenticity of the material or the qualifications of those who provided it -- this book nonetheless was profoundly influential in the Sixties, as another of the seminal volumes bringing some version of a Native American perspective and ethos to the mainstream society. This was a counterculture classic and a staple on college campuses in the late Sixties and early Seventies, thus contributing to the general push toward a more multicultural society. For all that he has been criticized, Waters was an ardent admirer of, and advocate for, the value of Native American culture. Spot to top stain; else fine in a near fine dust jacket internally tape strengthened along top and bottom edges, but with one gutter tear.
516. WATSON, Don. Cliff Dwellings of the Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde: Mesa Verde Museum Association (1961). Oblong quarto telling the story of the elaborate cliff dwellings in text and photos. Near fine in stapled wrappers.
517. WELCH, James. The Death of Jim Loney. NY: Harper & Row (1979). The second and perhaps scarcest novel by this award-winning Native American author. This copy is touchingly inscribed by Welch to Raymond Carver in the month after publication. Welch -- the author of Winter in the Blood, Killing Custer and the award-winning Fools Crow, among others -- is one of the most highly regarded contemporary Native American authors, and this copy represents a wonderful literary association. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with trace wear at the spine extremities.
518. WELCH, James. Fools Crow. (n.p.): Viking (1986). The advance reading copy of this highly praised novel that won The Los Angeles Times award for best novel of the year. A historical novel set among the Blackfeet of the 1870s, in which Welch exemplifies the possibilities that only inhere in a Native American literature: he creates a fictional world derived from historically accurate and authentic sources, animated by a distinctly traditional, Native American spirit and perspective, yet one that is not only compelling and accessible to a contemporary, non-native reader but also immediately relevant, even instructive, although without the slightest trace of didacticism. By raising the question of the meaning, and importance, of a single life -- in any context -- and by addressing such universal themes as the nature of the heroic, Fools Crow merges two sensibilities that might well have been at odds, but are here refined enough, and contained within a sufficiently embracing artistic vision, that a wholly new perception is brought into being. Shot from typescript and reproducing holograph corrections. Slight crown bump; near fine in wrappers.
519. (WELCH, James). HUGO, Richard. The Real West Marginal Way. NY: Norton (1986). Hugo's posthumously published autobiography, in the form of essays and interviews co-edited by Welch, a one-time student and longtime friend of Hugo. Includes an interview with Hugo by William Kittredge. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
520. WHITE EAGLE. The Dog Supper and Other Poems of Cowboy and Indian Life. (Gillette): (n.p.) (1918). A small booklet printing five of White Eagle's poems as well as a photo of Lookout Mountain, the resting place of Buffalo Bill. White Eagle was a Sioux chief from Wyoming, who was an expert horseman -- winning medals for his skill -- and who also prided himself as a poet. A small, fragile book in white wrappers, this copy shows evidence of internal dampstaining and the pages having been stuck together; they are abraded and torn where they have been separated. Only a good copy, but an extremely scarce volume of poetry by a Native American author.
521. -. Same title, in beige wrappers with a different typeface, layout and order to the poems. Also includes a photo of the author's pony, and a photo of the author on the rear cover, and omits the Lookout Mountain photograph. A statement on the front cover that "thousands of people" have read and enjoyed these poems -- which does not appear on the above copy -- suggests that this is a later edition. Still, a very scarce and fragile item. Wrappers worn; very good.
522. WHITE EAGLE, Chief. Autograph Letter Signed. May 30 [1921]. Written to Herbert Fay, Custodian of Lincoln's Tomb. One 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of white lined paper, written on both sides. This letter refers to White Eagle's being in charge of an exhibit in Chicago for the Custer Battlefield Highway Association and to his efforts to contact an Apache named Dr. Montezuma, who lived in Chicago, in order to provide Fay with a photograph for his collection. Folded in sixths for mailing. Near fine.
523. WHITEHEAD, Ruth Holmes. Stories from the Six Worlds. (Halifax): Nimbus Publishing (1988). A collection of Micmac legends by one of the foremost experts on Micmac culture in the world. This is the simultaneous issue in wrappers. Rubbing to folds; near fine.
524. WHITEMAN, Roberta Hill. Your Fierce Resistance. (n.p.): Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1993. A poem in honor of the author's aunt, Josephine Coté. One of 150 numbered copies, signed by the author. Fine in saddle-stitched wrappers and dust jacket. An attractively printed and bound volume by this Oneida poet.
525. WILSON, Edmund and MITCHELL, Joseph. Apologies to the Iroquois. NY: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy (1960). Wilson's indoctrination into the ongoing Indian land claim issues in upstate New York, much of which first appeared in The New Yorker. Printed together with Mitchell's "The Mohawks in High Steel." Inscribed by Wilson to noted critic and biographer, Leon Edel in the year of publication: "To Leon & Roberta Edel/ This book on a subject of/ enormous interest which Henry/ James unaccountably neglected." An excellent literary association: Edel edited Wilson's notebooks and diaries after Wilson died, preparing a number of volumes for publication. Offsetting to the endpapers; otherwise a near fine copy, lacking the dust jacket.
526. WILSON, Gilbert L. Goodbird the Indian. NY: Fleming H. Revell (1914). Autobiographical account by a Hidatsa Indian, Edward Goodbird, as told to Gilbert Wilson. Covers disintegrating over the spine; thus only a good copy in wrappers.
527. WOOD, Nancy. Many Winters. Garden City: Doubleday (1974). Later printing of a book of poetry and prose inspired by the Taos Pueblo. With drawings and paintings by Frank Howell. Near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Signed by Howell.
528. WOODY, Elizabeth. Hand into Stone. NY: Contact II Publications, 1988. The first book, a collection of poems, by this Navajo writer. Illustrated by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, a Flathead artist. Fine in wrappers, with blurbs by Barry Lopez and Simon Ortiz.
529. (Wounded Knee). HUCK, Susan L.M. Renegades. The Second Battle of Wounded Knee. (Belmont): (American Opinion) (1973). An anti-A.I.M. offprint from American Opinion. Extraneous horizontal fold; near fine in stapled wrappers.
530. (Wounded Knee). Wounded Knee 1973. (East Palo Alto): (Venceremos Publications), 1973. A special supplement to Venceremos, focusing on the events leading up to the takeover of Wounded Knee and the then-ongoing siege. Quarto, 24 pages, newsprint. Near fine.
531. (Wounded Knee). Flyer. (Washington, D.C.): (Wounded Knee Legal Defense Fund) (c. 1976). A flyer calling for support of Native American sovereignty on one side and support of the independent Oglala Nation on the other. A single sheet, printed on both sides; 8 1/2" x 11". Near fine. Uncommon ephemera.
532. (Wounded Knee). Voices from Wounded Knee. Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, via Rooseveltown: Akwesasne Notes (1979). Fifth printing, originally published in 1974. Perhaps the most extensive compilation of comments by the participants that has been published. Owner name; near fine in wrappers.
533. (Wounded Knee Treaties). 1868 Treaty in Court. (Lincoln): (Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee) (1974). Newspaper style reporting on the then-upcoming trial, in which the Indian claim that the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 -- which had ended the two-year-long Red Cloud's War and granted the Sioux and Northern Cheyennes free use of the northern Plains in perpetuity -- was still binding would be tested. The issue was the longest land claims case in American history and, despite a judgement in the tribes' favor a number of years later, is still an ongoing issue: the tribes have refused to accept the compensation ordered by the settlement, deeming it insufficient to compensate for the loss incurred. Mild edge-sunning; else fine.
534. (Wounded Knee Treaties). LEVANTHAL, Larry. Indian Treaties Are the Law of the Land. (Minneapolis): (American Friends Service Committee) (1977). An offprint of the 1974 legal background paper, "The Sioux Treaty of 1868." A single sheet, folded to make four pages. Fine.
535. (Wounded Knee Treaties). Reviewing U.S. Treaty Commitments to the Lakota Nation. (n.p.): (American Indian Journal) (1978). An article copyrighted by the Institute for the Development of Indian Law and reprinted here by the Pine Ridge Education/Action Project. Fine in stapled wrappers. Together with the 1978 Annual Report from the Institute for the Development of Indian Law, also fine in stapled wrappers.
536. (Wounded Knee Women). Cante Ohitika Win. (Pine Ridge): Cante Ohitika Win (c. 1976). A booklet on the role of women on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Small pencil note front cover; else fine in stapled wrappers. Together with a copy of Civil Rights Digest Bicentennial Issue (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1963), which has an article by Shirley Hill Wit on "The Brave-Hearted Women." Fine in stapled wrappers.
537. WRIGHT, Muriel. The Story of Oklahoma. Oklahoma City: Webb Publishing (1929-1930). The first book by this Choctaw writer, who later wrote numerous works on Oklahoma history and edited the historical quarterly Chronicles of Oklahoma for 20 years until her death in 1975. Owner name front pastedown; else fine, without dust jacket.
538. WRIGHT, Muriel H. A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma. Norman: U. of Oklahoma Press (1951). Gift inscription from a friend of the author, and owner name front flyleaf; front hinge starting; very good, without dust jacket.
539. WYNECOOP, David C. Children of the Sun. Wellpinit: Self-Published, 1969. A tribal history of the Spokane Indians, written by a member of the tribe. "Spokane" is generally taken to mean "Sun People" or "Children of the Sun." Light corner crease to cover; else fine in stapled wrappers.
540. YOUNG, Robert W. and MORGAN, William. Navajo Historical Selections. (Phoenix): (Bureau of Indian Affairs) (1954). Bilingual publication reprinting a number of stories and articles by Navajo authors that had appeared in the Navajo language monthly newspaper. Spine-sunned; near fine in wrappers.
541. ZITKALA SA. Old Indian Legends. Boston: Ginn and Co. (1901). The first book by this Sioux writer, and one of the first to retell Indian stories with an emphasis on the importance of the role of women. Zitkala Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) was an educated and politically active woman at a time when that was rare in American society at large, and extremely rare among American Indians. She was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Society of American Indians in 1916 and edited its journal, the American Indian Magazine, in 1918-19. She later formed her own political organization, the National Council of American Indians, and served as its President until her death in 1938. The stories in this volume are traditional Sioux tales, mostly trickster tales, retold for children, and she was the first of her generation to publish a volume of these tales, preceding Charles Eastman and others who followed. By virtue of her political outspokenness, Zitkala Sa is today seen as a more direct forerunner of contemporary Native American literature than are other writers of the same period. This copy bears the stamp of a grade school library on the front flyleaf and some light rubbing to the board edges; about near fine in blue-gray cloth, lacking a dust jacket. An extremely scarce, and extremely important, book.
542. -. Same title. Boston: Ginn/Athenaeum Press, 1901. A variant issue in red cloth. Two gift inscriptions on the flyleaf and some creasing there and on the half-title. Spine cloth faded; general rubbing and handling; very good, lacking a dust jacket.
543. -. Same title. Boston: Ginn/Athenaeum Press, 1902. A later printing in bluer cloth. Again, board edges rubbed; about near fine, lacking a dust jacket.
544. ZITKALA-SA. American Indian Stories. Washington: Hayworth Publishing, 1921. Another collection of stories, several of which are apparently autobiographical. Also includes an essay, "The Indian Problem." Signed by the author as both Zitkala-Sa and Gertrude Bonnin. In addition, she has annotated a page in the essay that refers to the question of wardship vs. citizenship for Indians with a note "Indian Citizenship Act passed June 2, 1924." This is the clothbound issue; there was also an issue in wrappers. One page foxed, very good, without dust jacket, probably as issued.
545. -. Another copy, unsigned. Very good.
546. -. Another copy. Front hinge cracked; else very good.