Native American Literature, J-L
269. JOHNSON, Elias. Legends, Traditions and Laws, of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians. Lockport: Union Printing and Publishing, 1881. An important volume on the Iroquois nation, written by a Tuscarora chief. Includes history, tribal legends and lore, encounters with the Europeans and the tale, much retold, of the formation of the Iroquois confederacy -- an alliance that united the six tribes while at the same time allowing them to retain their individual tribal identities. Benjamin Franklin was reportedly extremely impressed with the way the Iroquois had handled the issue of unification vs. independence, and took the Iroquois as a model in helping conceive of the nature of the relationships that would exist in an as-yet-to-be-formed united states of America. More recently, the Iroquois model has become of interest to modern feminist scholars, who noted Johnson's indication that there was no such thing as rape in Iroquois society, and that women held an esteemed position within the Iroquois social structure, one that accords in many ways with present-day feminist aspirations. Front hinge starting; one page has a hole as though from hot wax; general foxing to pages; still about very good, without dust jacket.
270. JOHNSON, E. Pauline. Canadian Born. Toronto: George N. Morang, 1903. The second book by this Mohawk poet, like her first, a collection of poems. Very slight staining to covers and rubbing to corners; still a near fine copy of this small volume by the most important Indian woman writer of the early part of the 20th century.
271. -. Another copy. Owner name on front free endpaper; rubbing to boards and slight fading to spine. Very good.
272. JOHNSON, E. Pauline. Legends of Vancouver. Vancouver: Privately Printed, 1911. Pacific Northwestern (Chinook) Indian legends, retold by the Mohawk poet. This is the very scarce first edition, of which there were 1000 copies privately printed. Johnson's friends had arranged to have these tales published in book form -- they had previously been published in the Vancouver Daily Province in 1910 -- in order to help provide the author with an income during a terminal illness. The edition sold out quickly upon publication and a second printing of 1000 copies was done the following year, which also sold out quickly. The author died of breast cancer in 1913, and new editions of this continued to come out, and sell well, for years. Gift inscription; splitting at spine and some chipping there and on the rear cover; a very good copy of this fragile volume, staple-bound in embossed wrappers. We have never handled the first edition before.
273. -. Same title. Vancouver: Saturday Sunset Presses, 1913. The eighth edition, illustrated with drawings and photographs, issued shortly after the author died. Near fine in edge-sunned boards. An attractive copy of an early reprint.
274. -. Same title. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart (1922). A later edition. Large owner name on the half-title; small stamp front pastedown; near fine, lacking the dust jacket.
275. JOHNSON, E. Pauline. Flint and Feather. Toronto: Musson Book [1912]. Perhaps her most famous book, which reprints the poems from her first two collections -- The White Wampum and Canadian Born -- as well as a number of previously uncollected pieces. Published just before she died. Johnson was the most celebrated Native American woman writer of her day; indeed, she remained so until the present generation of writers. Most of her books, including this one, were reprinted numerous times (this book had reached its twenty-second edition by 1931) and are scarce in the first edition. Owner name front flyleaf, a bit of foxing to pages and minor soiling to boards; very good, lacking the dust jacket.
276. JOHNSON, Joseph. To Do Good to My Indian Brethren. Amherst: U. of Massachusetts Press (1998). Bound 8 1/2" x 11" sheets, printing two text pages to one photocopied page, of the letters and diaries of the Mohegan preacher Joseph Johnson, 1751-1776. Ringbound in cardstock covers; fine.
277. JUMP, Kenneth Jacob. Osage Indian Poems and Short Stories. (Pawhuska): Self-published, 1979. A collection of poems and stories about the Osage tribe by an Osage writer. The author cites his mother, other tribal members, and two books as the sources of information he used in assembling the tales. Fine in stapled wrappers.
278. KENNY, Maurice. Kneading the Blood. (NY): (Strawberry Press) (1981). An early collection by this Mohawk writer, who also founded the press that published it. Along with the Joseph Bruchac's Greenfield Review Press and the press of the Blue Cloud Abbey, Strawberry Press was one of the few places that supported Native American writing and writers in the 1970s and early 1980s. Price inked out on rear cover, else fine in stapled wrappers.
279. KENNY, Maurice. Dancing Back Strong the Nation. (Buffalo): White Pine Press (1981). The second edition of this collection of poems by a Native American writer who is also a publisher (Strawberry Press). With an introduction by Paula Gunn Allen, and illustrations by Rokwaho. First issued as Blue Cloud Quarterly Vol. 25, No. 1 in 1979; this edition is revised and expanded and issued as Pinecone 11. Inscribed by the author. Faint edge sunning; else fine in blue stapled wrappers.
280. KENNY, Maurice. The Smell of Slaughter. Marvin: Blue Cloud Quarterly Press, 1982. Another collection of poems published by the Benedictine monks of Blue Cloud Abbey. With a cover illustration by Rokwaho. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication to another poet. Price inked out on rear cover; small split at lower spine; else fine in stapled wrappers.
281. KENNY, Maurice. The Mama Poems. Buffalo: White Pine (1984). Poetry, winner of the American Book Award for 1984 from the Before Columbus Foundation. Partial award sticker on front cover; price inked out on rear cover; near fine in wrappers.
282. KENNY, Maurice. Is Summer This Bear. (Saranac Lake): (Chauncy Press) (1985). Another collection of poems, his first after winning the American Book Award. Signed by the author. Near fine in wrappers with a cover illustration by Rokwaho.
283. KENNY, Maurice. Tekonwatonti: Molly Brant. (Fredonia): White Pine Press (1992). A long poem recounting, and re-imagining, the life of Molly Brant, sister of Mohawk chief Joseph Brant and herself a leader of Indian troops allied with the British during the Revolutionary War. Inscribed by the author in 1993. Faint foredge spot; else fine in wrappers.
284. KING, Thomas. A Coyote Columbus Story. Toronto/Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre (1992). A very uncommon children's book by the part-Cherokee author of the highly acclaimed novel, Medicine River. Signed by the author and by the illustrator, William Kent Monkman. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued. As far as we know, not issued in the U.S.
285. KING, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1993). His second novel, which also received wide critical praise. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Laid into this copy is a 13-page promotional handout that includes 3 pages about the book and the author, a five page interview with King, a reprint of an OpEd piece by him for a 1991 issue of the Toronto Star; and four reviews of his earlier book, Medicine River.
286. -. Same title. The advance reading copy. Fine in slightly spine-faded wrappers.
287. KINSLEY, D.A. Favor the Bold: Custer: the Indian Fighter. (NY): Holt Rinehart Winston (1968). The second and final volume of Kinsley's Custer biography; the author is identified by the publisher as part-Sioux. Slight bumping and rubbing to board edges; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
288. KNOCKWOOD, Isabelle. Out of the Depths. Lockeport: Roseway Publishing (1992). Second edition of this memoir of a Mi'kmaw woman who attended the Indian Residential School at Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, in the 1930s and 40s and here speaks up about the oppressive and racist atmosphere of the school, which attempted to civilize the Indian children by forbidding them from speaking their own language, calling them "savages," etc. Black (remainder) stripe bottom edge of pages, otherwise fine in wrappers.
289. LACAPA, Michael. Antelope Woman. (Flagstaff): Northland Publishing (1992). An Apache folktale, retold and illustrated by Lacapa, who is of Apache, Hopi and Tewa descent. Signed by the author in the year of publication. Oblong quarto. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
290. LA FLESCHE, Francis. The Middle Five. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 1914. A later printing of the author's first book, a small volume of stories subtitled "Indian Boys at School," and pertaining to the education of Indian boys in white-run schools; first published in 1900. La Flesche was an Osage writer and was educated at a Presbyterian mission school in Nebraska. Being of the first generation of young Indians to be educated at white-run schools, he was intimately familiar with the dramatic and traumatic culture clash the experience was for many, and which was documented in a number of autobiographies of the period. The difficulty of re-adaptation to reservation life and the sense of alienation from both the Native and the white cultures that ensued became a theme that has run through Native American literature since. Fine in pictorial boards, without dust jacket (as issued?). An original photograph of an Indian school is mounted to page 120.
291. LaPOINTE, Frank. The Sioux Today. NY: Crowell-Collier (1972). A collection of short pieces for young people about the contemporary Sioux, by a former editor of the Rosebud Sioux newspaper, Eyahapa. Illustrated with photographs. Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket with one closed edge tear.
292. LEAST HEAT MOON, William. Blue Highways. Boston: Atlantic/Little Brown (1982). The author's first book, an account of his back road travels throughout the U.S. Highly praised upon publication (a Robert Penn Warren blurb on the dust jacket calls it "a masterpiece"), the book was also a bestseller, going into numerous printings soon after publication. This copy is inscribed by the author in the year of publication to writer Annie Dillard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: "For Annie Dillard - /Writer & PingPong player"/ Both in excellence./[signed] Bill Trogdon/ 28 March 83." Dillard provided a blurb that was printed on the jacket. The association with Dillard is an excellent one: both Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Blue Highways helped to redefine what is now considered the "literature of place." Near fine in a slightly edgeworn dust jacket.
293. LEAST HEAT MOON, William. Autograph Note Signed. January 14, 1985. A brief note to the editor of a magazine, saying that he is keeping the magazine in mind, presumably for an article. Folded for mailing, else fine, with envelope.
294. LEAST HEAT MOON, William. Autograph Note Signed. December 14, 1986. A brief note to the editor of Art & Antiques magazine, congratulating him on a recent Wyeth issue. Folded for mailing, else fine, with envelope.
295. LEAST HEAT MOON, William. PrairyErth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991. His second book, like his first an exploration of place but in this case, rather than an extended road trip, the author focuses on one small section of Kansas. Signed by the author, "Heat Moon." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
296. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers.
297. -. Another copy of the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers and signed by the author.
298. LEE, Larry. American Eagle. (Madrid, N.M.): (Packrat Press) (1977). The story of a Navajo Vietnam veteran, written by an antiwar Vietnam vet -- who was President of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and a founder of First Casualty Press, an important antiwar press run by vets. After the war, the author moved to the Southwest, where this story is set, and taught school for a time at the Pojoaque Indian Pueblo. Fine in wrappers, with an N. Scott Momaday blurb.
299. LELAND, Charles G. The Algonquin Legends of New England. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1885. The second edition of this scarce collection, which is generally considered to be the first collection of the myths and folklore of the Micmac, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes. Recent scholarship, however, has tended to be critical of Leland for bowdlerizing the tales, introducing elements of Western romanticism and moral instruction, and thus betraying the tribal tales. He also introduced the now widely discredited theory that many of the tales of the Northeastern Indian tribes derived from contact with Norse explorers. Light wear to the corners and extremities, front pastedown creased along the gutter, possibly from production; a very good copy, without dust jacket. A controversial, and thus important, book in the present day consideration of the question of "authenticity," which pervades discussion of Native American topics, especially literature.
300. -. Same title. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1884). Stated third edition. Owner name on first blank; small label front pastedown, the glue of which has caused a small abrasion to the flyleaf; splitting and chipping to rear hinge; very good, without dust jacket. An uncommon collection.
301. LESLEY, Craig. The Sky Fisherman. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. His third novel, which comes with glowing blurbs from a number of western writers, including Terry Tempest Williams, Barry Lopez, Ivan Doig and Carolyn See. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
302. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers.
303. LESLEY, Craig. Storm Riders. (NY): Picador (2000). Two states of the advance reading copy of his most recent and, according to the publisher, most autobiographical novel. The first state is dated August, 1999 and is shot from typescript; fine in blue wrappers. The second state is dated September and is typeset; fine in purple wrappers. Laid in is a letter explaining that there were substantive changes between the two states. For both:
304. LINZER, Anna. Ghost Dancing. NY: Picador (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of the first book by this author who lives on the Suquamish Indian Reservation in Washington state; a collection of related stories involving Jimmy One Rock, a Lenape Indian who moves from Oklahoma to a decaying reservation in the Pacific Northwest. Fine in wrappers.
305. LITTLEBIRD, Harold. On Mountain's Breath. (Santa Fe): Tooth of Time, 1982. Poetry and drawings, the author's first book. One of 750 copies in wrappers, the entire edition. This copy is signed by the author. Fine. Laid in is a postcard announcement of a show of Littlebird's pottery and a reading.
306. LOMATEWAMA, Ramson. Silent Winds. (Hotevilla): (Lomatewama) (1983). A self-published collection of poetry by a Hopi, his first book. Inscribed by the author to another poet, Ai, who won the National Book Award for poetry last year. Fine in wrappers.
307. LONE DOG, Louise. Strange Journey. Healdsburg: Naturegraph, 1964. The Vision Life of a Psychic Indian Woman. An early publication by a small press specializing in Native American spirituality. A few small edge stains and some scratches to the cover; otherwise near fine in wrappers.
308. LONG LANCE, Chief Buffalo Child. Long Lance. NY: Farrar & Rinehart (1928). Later edition of this putative autobiography by an author who is identified in the text as a full-blooded Indian, is elsewhere identified as of mixed racial descent, and has recently been alleged to have been altogether a fraud. Introduction by novelist Irvin Cobb, who identifies himself as a close friend of the author, and recounts Chief Long Lance's exploits at Carlisle Indian school and in the Canadian Army in the First World War. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
309. LOUIS, Adrian C. Muted War Drums. (Marvin): Blue Cloud Quarterly, 1977. Poetry. Second book by this Paiute poet, issued as Blue Cloud Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 3. Labeled for mailing and with a couple cover spots; near fine in stapled wrappers.
310. LOUIS, Adrian C. Fire Water World. (Albuquerque): (West End Press) (1989). A collection of poems, the author's fourth book. Joseph Bruchac blurb. Fine in wrappers.
311. LUMMIS, Charles F. The Man Who Married the Moon. NY: The Century Co., 1894. The first edition of this collection of Pueblo folk tales, assembled by a white writer who had walked across the continent in 1884-85 and became enthralled with the natural beauty of the Southwest. Lummis' volume recounting his "tramp across the continent," published in 1892, is widely considered the first book to redress the highly negative images that Easterners had of the desert southwest. He went on to live in Los Angeles, becoming the first City Editor of the Los Angeles Times, and his collection of photographs and Southwestern art became the foundation for the Southwest Museum. This collection was reissued, in 1910, as Pueblo Indian Folk Stories, and is one of the first collections of southwestern Indian folk tales. Spine-darkened, with cloth showing modest overall handling. A very good copy, without jacket.