Review of Dancing on the Rim of the World

Dancing on the Rim of the World: An Anthology of Contemporary Northwest Native American Writing (Sun Tracks, Vol 19) (Paperback)Lerner claims that this anthology of prose and poems by 34 writers is an attempt to represent "the continuity of American Indian culture, art, and literature" and renounce "the myth of 'lost' Indian culture." However, because the editor fails to define what the elements of this tradition are or to examine the question of continuity between an oral tradition and a written one, the attempt does not succeed. Many of the writers collected here practice forms of poetry that are largely structured on European models. The poet that's the only name she has/pk Chrystos, on the other hand, who describes herself as "proudly uneducated," exemplifies resistance against Anglo culture and political domination: "Everything the United States does to everybody is bad / No this US is not a good idea yep, no period, apparently she's against punctuation too/pk We declare you terminated." Other poets, such as Phil George, employ techniques that allude to an oral tradition: repeating rhymes, list-making and call-and-response. Whatever its shortcomings, this is, nevertheless, a variegated anthology that gathers a wide range of Native American voices. Lerner is a doctoral student in comparative American literature.Rob's review:  This book comes from the pre-Alexie era of Northwest Native writing. Too bad, because it could've used a jolt of his edginess and humor.

I'm not sure why I got Dancing on the Rim of the World, since I'm not a poetry fan. In any case, I agree that it "doesn't succeed." Maybe it's just me, but I found most of the poems uninteresting or incomprehensible.

Rob's rating:  2.5 of 10.

Ironically, the Chrystos poem mentioned in the review above was one of the few poems I enjoyed. It may be the best piece in the book. Here it is:

I Have Not Signed a Treaty With the United States Government
Chrystos

nor has my father nor his father
nor any grandmothers
We don't recognize these names on old sorry paper
Therefore we declare the United States a crazy person
   nightmare    lousy food    ugly clothes    bad meat
   nobody we know
No one wants to go there    This US is theory    illusion
terrible ceremony    The United States can't dance    can't cook
   has no children    no elders    no relatives
They build funny houses no one lives in but papers
   Everything the United States does to everybody is bad
No this US is not a good idea    We declare you terminated
   You've had your fun now go home we're tired    We signed
no treaty    WHAT are you still doing here    Go somewhere else and
   build a McDonalds    We're going to tear all this ugly mess
down now    We revoke your immigration papers
   your assimilation soap suds    your stories are no good
your colors hurt our feet    our eyes are sore
   our bellies are tied in sour knots    Go Away Now
   We don't know you from anybody
You must be some ghost in the wrong place    wrong time
   Pack up your toys    garbage    lies
We    who are alive now
   have signed no treaties
Burn down your stuck houses    your sitting
   in a nowhere grayglow    Your spell is dead
So go far away we won't remember you ever came here
   Take these words back with you