Native American Literature, M
447. MAHNGOTAYSEE, Soan. Moments A-Muse-Ing. (Chicago): (Adams Press) (1967). Poems, episodes, prayers, maxims and an autobiographical sketch by Mahngotaysee, Chief Strongheart, a Cherokee. Inscribed by the author. Foxing to covers and prelims; else near fine in wrappers. Uncommon self-published volume.
448. 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 decade and as such was the first woman elected by a major U.S. tribe. Signed by the author: "I survived!/ Wilma Mankiller." Also signed by Marcellus "Bear Heart" Williams, a Muskogee-Creek medicine man who treated Mankiller when she was seriously ill. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
449. MANYARROWS, Victoria Lena. Songs from the Native Lands. San Francisco: Nopal Press (1995). The first full-length book of poetry by this lesbian Native writer. Only issued in wrappers. Fine.
450. 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. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with glowing blurbs by Jim Northrup and Ron Querry.
451. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
452. 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. Inscribed by the author in 1934 "with special pleasure and deep appreciation." Sunning to spine; near fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with light edge wear. 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.
453. 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. His father established Tempe, Arizona, and was instrumental in setting up Arizona State University. 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.
454. -. Another copy. Inscribed by the author on publication day, November 7, 1934, in Oklahoma City to an Oklahoma City bookseller, "with pleasure." A near fine copy, lacking the dust jacket.
455. -. Another copy. This is a review copy, with slip laid in, and a pencilled note on front flyleaf asking that the book be reviewed. Mild spine-fading; a near fine copy, lacking the dust jacket.
456. McDANIEL, Wilma Elizabeth. Who is San Andreas. Marvin: Blue Cloud, 1984. Issued as Blue Cloud Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 3. Poetry by a writer of Anglo-Cherokee descent, who was raised in the Creek Nation. Mailing address of Joseph Bruchac and postal sticker rear cover; else fine in stapled wrappers.
457. 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). "Following the flag" this would be considered the "true first": the author is the daughter of Canadian thinker and teacher, Marshal McLuhan ("The medium is the message"). This was her first book, and it was popular throughout the early Seventies and became a contemporary classic and a bestseller, going into numerous printings and editions. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a bit of sunning and spotting to the rear panel. Scarce in the actual first printing, let alone with the Canadian imprint.
458. -. Another copy, this being the first U.S. edition. NY: Outerbridge and Dienstfrey (1971). Inscribed by the author in the year of publication, "To Joe, with many thanks for helping me present this book to others," and signed "Teri." Light corner bumping; else fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with a 1" tear at the upper front spine fold.
459. McNICKLE, D'Arcy. They Came Here First. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1949). The second book, and first book of nonfiction, by this Flathead writer, a one-volume overview of American Indian history. McNickle's first book was the novel The Surrounded. Although he wrote other fiction later in life, he was best known as a chronicler, in nonfiction, of Indian history, issues and current affairs, and as an activist for Indian causes and culture. He was appointed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs by John Collier, to whom this book is dedicated, and he later helped establish the Newberry Library's Center for the History of the American Indian, which was named after him in 1984 in honor of his life work. Owner name and date on front pastedown (mostly under front flap). Near fine in a very good jacket with light edge wear and a snagged tear along the front flap fold.
460. -. Another copy. A near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with several very small chips, including one at mid-spine.
461. McNICKLE, D'Arcy and FEY, Harold E. Indians and Other Americans. NY: Harper & Brothers (1959). A later printing of this history of relations between Indians and white Americans. Inscribed by McNickle in 1962. Dampstaining to board edges; else near fine in a good, edgeworn dust jacket with a chip at the spine base and some internal tape repairs and dampstaining.
462. -. Another copy, this being a first edition. Inscribed by Helen Peterson and Helen Maynor. Peterson, an Oglala Sioux, was, from 1954 to 1962, Director of the National Congress of the American Indian, a lobbying organization formed by tribal leaders. Maynor, a Lumbee, has been active in Indian affairs throughout her life, serving as Director of the Office of Indian Affairs of the Department of Education, among many other posts. A fine copy in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with a few edge nicks. An excellent association copy.
463. McNICKLE, D'Arcy. Indian Man. A Life of Oliver LaFarge. Bloomington: Indiana University (1971). A biography of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Laughing Boy, which was the first modern novel to popularize a sympathetic view of southwestern Indian tribes and customs. This is the uncorrected proof copy. Glue mark front cover (presumably where the publisher's label has come off), otherwise near fine in tall, clasp-bound wrappers with the publisher's (dreaded) annotation of "mid-list" on the front cover. A scarce state of an important biography.
464. 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. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with slight spine fade and a blue dot near the crown.
465. MIDGE, Tiffany. Guiding the Stars to Their Campfire, Driving the Salmon to Their Beds. Everett: Gazoobi Tales, 2005. Poetry by a Sioux writer who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Inscribed by the author to Joe and Carol [Bruchac]. Fine in stapled wrappers. A nice association copy.
466. MOMADAY, Natachee Scott. Owl in the Cedar Tree. (n.p.): Ginn and Company, 1965. A 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. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with two very small, internally tape-mended tears. A beautiful copy, scarce in any jacket, especially signed.
467. MOMADAY, N. Scott. House Made of Dawn. NY: Harper & Row (1968). A publicity copy of one of the most acclaimed American Indian novels ever written, and the first modern Indian novel to attempt to fuse a fully conscious political awareness with an appreciation of the transcendent value, the "order and beauty," as Momaday writes, of the Native American culture and worldview. Signed by the author in 1969. This copy was sent out after publication, and after the book won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize, to the San Francisco Library to encourage an interview. A letter to that effect is laid in, along with a pre-publication author fact sheet. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with trace wear at the top edge.
468. -. Another copy. Signed by the author on the title page and additionally inscribed by him to a Native American poet. Recipient's handmade bookplate on front flyleaf; fine in a near fine dust jacket with a small dampstain at the upper outer corner. A nice association copy.
469. -. Another copy. Faint glue residue front flyleaf and small tape removal abrasions to boards; still near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
470. MOMADAY, N. Scott. The Way to Rainy Mountain. (Albuquerque): University of New Mexico (1969). A remarkable account of the Kiowa tribe's history and migration to the land it presently occupies; in part a celebration of the beauty of the land and an elegy to a lost way of life. Illustrated by his father, Al Momaday. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
471. -. Another copy. Near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with one edge tear.
472. -. Another copy. Signed by the author and the illustrator. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Scarce in fine condition and signed by both.
473. MOMADAY, N. Scott. The Colors of Night. San Francisco: Arion Press, 1976. An illustrated broadside measuring approximately 14" x 22", folded twice and tipped into a wrapper. One of 500 copies. Faint foxing to wrapper; otherwise a fine copy of an attractive and uncommon item.
474. MOMADAY, N. Scott. In the Presence of the Sun. NY: St. Martin's, 1992. The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of stories and poems from 1961 to 1991. An earlier limited edition by Rydal Press printed a portion of this collection. Signed by the author. Publicist's card stapled inside the front cover; fine in wrappers.
475. (MOMADAY, N. Scott). New Mexico Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 1. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1961. Three poems by Momaday, who graduated from UNM. Very early appearances in print for him, preceding his first book by several years. Light spine sunning, else fine in wrappers.
476. (MOMADAY, N. Scott). The Complete Poems of Frederick Goddard Tuckerman. NY: Oxford University Press, 1965. A collection edited and with an introduction by Momaday, done as his doctoral dissertation, and preceding his first book by two years. With a critical foreword by Yvor Winters, who was Momaday's teacher at Stanford, where he earned his M.A. and his Ph.D. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
477. -. Another copy. Signed by Momaday. Bookplate on front flyleaf; lower board edge sunned; near fine in a very good dust jacket. Uncommon signed.
478. (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 fine dust jacket.
479. (MOMADAY, N. Scott). McAULEY, Skeet. Sign Language. (NY): (Aperture) (1989). Contemporary Southwest Native America, as photographed by McAuley and introduced by Momaday. With additional essays by Luci Tapahonso and Martha Sandweiss and Navajo stories by Mike Mitchell. Signed by Momaday. Oblong quarto; fine in a fine dust jacket. An attractive volume, with stunning photos.
480. (MOMADAY, N. Scott). Promotional Poster. (n.p.): New Mexico State University, 2001. A poster announcing Momaday as a speaker in the University Speakers Series, "Native American Oral Tradition: The Stories and Storytellers." The poster, 12" x 23" and printed in two colors, names and pictures Momaday and prints the quote: "If I do not speak with care, my words are wasted." Rolled; else fine.
481. MOON, Sheila. A Magic Dwells. London: Rider and Company (1972). The first British edition of the second book by this non-Native Jungian psychologist, a "poetic and psychological study of the Navajo emergence myth." Small abrasion front flyleaf and erasure first blank; else fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with a diagonal tear at the upper front spine fold.
482. MOURNING DOVE. Coyote Stories. Caldwell: Caxton Printers, 1934. The limited edition of this collection, one of only 25 numbered copies, bound in leather. Mourning Dove (Christine Quiinstasket aka Humishuma) 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." This collection was edited and illustrated by Heister Dean Guie, with notes by L.V. McWhorter, and a foreword by Chief Standing Bear. Mourning Dove assembled these tales based on Okanogan folklore. McWhorter assisted her in publishing the book, and mediated between her and Guie, a journalist and aspiring artist who edited the manuscript, standardizing her spellings of Indian words and also questioning and checking her knowledge of the traditional tales, which at times caused friction between them. Standing Bear was enlisted to write a foreword, as he had published two popular autobiographies in recent years and it was thought his name on the book would help sell it. Signed by Mourning Dove and Guie and with Standing Bear's signature laid in. Very scarce; we've only seen this issue of it once before. Near fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
483. -. Another copy, a second printing of the trade edition. Inscribed by Mourning Dove following a gift inscription to Murray and Eunice McWhorter, with McWhorter's bookplate on the front pastedown. fine in a fair, spine-faded dust jacket splitting along the front spine fold and with two corner chips on the front panel and one laid-in chip at the crown.