Wordcraft Circle
Done Good!
Please take a moment to review the accomplishments of your colleagues, and extend your encouragement and congratulations to their
continued success!
Congratulations to one and all!
Please send any and all updates to elic_2006@hotmail.com. Keep up the excellent work! As a side note, allow me to extend my apologies to any one who has submitted a Done Good that was never responded too. I believe my "excellent" SPAM filtering system diverted an email or two! I now know to check my junk mail frequently!!!! Thank you MVTO ... YAKOKE, for all your patience, and most importantly, your amazing work!!!!
Kathy Ainsley
I had a poem "Indian Curriculum" appear in Studies in the Humanities 33.3 (2006) on page 127. My manuscript "The Brightest Light: The Life of
Louis Sockalexis" received favorable comments by a small press, but I'm still looking for a publisher.
Alice Azure
I am happy to announce the release and book signing of my debut book, In Mi'kmaq Country: Selected Poems and Stories by The Trickster Gallery
in Schaumburg, Illinois on Saturday, February 2, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM, when I will give a reading and sign book copies. The Trickster Gallery is
owned and operated by the American Indian Center of Chicago.
In particular, I feel so honored to have the support of long-time friends like Dr. Terry Straus, Hunter Gray, MariJo Moore and Catherine Martin, all who helped me immeasurably in the launching of my first book. Allow me to share with you the reviews thus far:
Alice Azure's first book of poetry is refreshing and inspiring. Collectively, her poems and writings mirror her life and her emotional journey in search of her roots. I could visualize Alice, hear her voice, and see her dancing and smiling as I read each piece because the spirit of Alice Azure is embedded within these writings from her heart. She speaks with her heart; she writes with her heart and dances her life's journey with her heart leading her. It was a pleasure to read and an inspiration to the creative soul. You have always been dancing and will continue to dance, my friend.
Catherine Martin, Mi'kmaq (Milbrook First Nation, Truro, Nova Scotia)
Filmmaker, The Spirit of Annie Mae
In this uninhibited book of beautiful, dazzling writing, Alice Azure allows us to visit "other worlds where/ treaties are still in jeopardy, /Grandmother Spider visits and counsels, / stars and stones comfort and/Coyote has gone to the casinos," as well as delve into her own inner thoughts, struggles, and jubilations. A brilliant writer, Alice puts readers In Mi'kmaq Country to explore, imagine, and celebrate along with her and her ancestors.
MariJo Moore, Cherokee
Author: Spirit Voices of Bones and The Diamond Doorknob
Win Blevins
Win Blevins published an article on the comeback of the buffalo on the Great Plains in the current issue of NATIVE PEOPLES Magazine. In
December the web site SADDLEBUMS published an interview with him--
http://saddlebums.blogspot.com/2007/12/saddlebums-interview-win-blevins.html.
The last novel in my six-volume RENDEZVOUS series of novels about a mountain man with a Crow family, Dreams Beneath Your Feet, was
published in December by Forge, one of the houses in the Macmillan group. The series is about a mixed-blood family in the 1820s and 30s. My first
fantasy novel, Zadayi Red, which is also the first in a series, will be published by TOR next July under the pen name Caleb Fox. This fantasy series is
set among the predecessors of the Cherokee people. See www.calebfox.com. His Dictionary of the American West was published (again) by Texas
Christian University Press in September. It has a section on Red English, the English speech of contemporary Native people, and a section about
courteous speech about Native people.
James BlueWolf
Carolyn Wing Greenlee and I recently did a series of video conferences with local schools relating to writing and art for both Native and non-Native
students. We discussed the creative process and answered questions from students at six local schools. Our book Speaking for Fire (Earthen Vessel
Productions, 2007), one of the "Sparks" series of sixteen stories written by BlueWolf in a traditional storytelling style to present examples of virtue and
values important to his family, is being used in at least fifteen classrooms in a number of Nor Cal Counties, and the list is spreading.
The historical documentary I wrote, produced, and narrated for the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians, "Hinthel Gaahnuula--Clearlake Holocaust," has been featured on a number of TV stations, purchased by the libraries and museums in three Nor Cal Counties and was recently a featured film at the Lake County Museum to educate Lake County citizens on local Native history. The Sound track was nominated for a local documentary film award. It is now being used in a number of Nor Cal schools during their California History segment.
visit us at www.anoliscircle.com
Linda Boyden
Bio: Linda Boyden has spent most of her adult life leading children to literacy. From 1970-1997, she taught in elementary schools. She received her
master's in Gifted and Talented Education in 1992 from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. In 1997, Linda moved to Maui and decided to
change careers. She abandoned full-time teaching for full-time writing. Since then has had poems and articles published as well as two picture books:
The Blue Roses, which won Lee and Low Books' first New Voices Award in the year 2000, the 2003 Paterson Prize in its age category, Wordcraft
Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers Book of the Year, Children's Literature, 2002-2003, and was included on the prestigious CCBC
(Cooperative Children's Book Center) 2003 Choice's list of recommended titles. Also in 2003, Linda was invited to participate in the 8th Annual
Multicultural Children's Book Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. In 2004, she and her family returned to the mainland, moving to
Northern CA. In 2006 two of her poems, "Pale Eyes Empty" won Third Prize and "Cedar Songs, Left Behind" won First Prize at the 5th Annual
Pleasanton Poetry Festival in Pleasanton CA. Another of her poems, "Spirit Man" was set to original classical flute music by Margaret Fairlie
Kennedy and included in the Laurels Project, a cd of women authors and women composers. In November of 2007, her second picture book, which
she also illustrated, "Powwow's Coming" debuted from the University of New Mexico Press. Also for young listeners: "Grammy Linda & Her
Magic Window" preschool storytelling DVD, 2006, and "Stories of the Grandmothers" Native American storytelling CD, 2006.
Linda is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers.
She enjoys doing author visits and storytelling at schools and libraries across the country as well as volunteering her storytelling skills at local libraries
and book stores. She is employed as an After-School Enrichment Teacher for Shasta County Schools, providing storytelling and writing projects for
elementary age students. In her spare time she enjoys spoiling her many beautiful grandchildren, and exploring northern California with her husband,
local photographer John Boyden.
Vee Browne
See http://vee.browne.googlepages.com/home.
Marge Bruchac
Dr. Margaret Bruchac (UMass Amherst Ph.D. 2007) has accepted a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University
of Connecticut. Dr. Bruchac will be located at the Avery Point campus, where she will teach in the American Studies Department while serving as
Coordinator of the Native American Studies Program. Watch for news, as the Avery Point campus seeks to expand the existing minor in Native
American Studies by adding cultural programming, developing community outreach that highlights the concerns of regional Native communities, and
exploring new trends in teaching Indigenous Studies.
Susan Campbell
Susan Campbell is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation with headquarters in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She moved to Kaua'i in 1999 and Stained
Glass Windows is her second book, her first book of poetry. She has also written Potawatomi Trail of Death, which she co-wrote with Shirley
Willard, published in 2003. She has edited several other books including serving as advisor for The Last Blackrobe of Indiana and the Potawatomi
Trail of Death by John McMullen, published in 2006; she also wrote the epilogue for that book.
Melinda Elmore
My poem "The Navajo Weave" is scheduled to appear in June in the online journal Autumn Leaves. My essay on cardiovascular disease (signs and
symptoms of a heart attack) won a contest conducted by the Saint Thomas Pain/Cumberland Medical Center and has been published in our local
newspaper on April 29. My Native American Romance novel Native Dreams has been published by Publish America.
Terri Hansen
Terri was profiled as a key environment and science reporter in the Winter 2009 Winds of Change magazine published by the American Indian Science
& Engineering Society with a headline, "An inspiration for aspiring Native American science writers." She recently received two awards from the
Native American Journalists Association: "Best Environmental News Story 2008," for a daily/weekly newspaper, and "Best News Story 2008," for a
monthly/bimonthly newspaper.
Sara Hoklotubbe
My essay, "We've Come a Long Way," appeared in Mystery Readers International Journal, 23.1 (Spring 2007), an issue dedicated to the Ethnic
Detective. Alaska Sisters in Crime invited me to participate in the "Authors to the Schools" program held in conjunction with the Bouchercon 2007
World Mystery Convention held in Anchorage, September 27-30, 2007. After serving on a panel at the convention about writing as a Native American,
I spent five days in two Siberian Yupik villages -- Savoonga and Gambell -- located on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea to visit the schools and
talk about writing. The students were eager to learn and the reception of both villages warmed my heart. An anthology about the program is currently
in process.
Bob Nelson
Bob Nelson has retired after 35 years of teaching at University of Richmond but has continued to work as webmaster for the Association for the Study
of American Indian Literatures and as editor of ASAIL's online "Guide to Native American Studies Programs in the U.S. and Canada" as well as
to publish in the field. His book Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony: The Recovery of Tradition was published by Peter Lang Co. in March 2008.
Renee Roman Nose
Renee Roman Nose was recently invited to Oregon State University by the Ethnic Studies Department to speak on the history of Native people in
Oregon for a course titled "Ethnic Minorities of Oregon." She will defend her research in October thereby completing the last of the requirements for a
Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies. Her major was Applied Anthropology and double minors were Art and Ethnic Studies.
Steve Russell
Since we last met, Steve Russell has been tenured at Indiana University, a "publish or perish" situation. Here is a chronological list of his publications since 2002, newest first:
"Law and Bones: Religion, Science, and the Discourse of Empire." Radical History Review 99 (2007): 214-226.
[with Sara M. Walsh and Krista Eckhardt] "Sex, Lies and Law: Moral Turpitude as an Enforcer of Gender and Sexuality Norms." Sexuality Research and Social Policy 3 (2006): 37-51.
"Making Peace With Crow Dog's Ghost: Racialized Prosecution in Federal Indian Law." Wicazo Sa Review 21 (2006): 89-114.
"The Cherokee Nation: A Colonial Morality Play in Three Acts." Eating Fire, Tasting Blood: Breaking the Great Silence of the American Indian Holocaust, ed. Marijo Moore (2006): 128-145.
Book Review of Jon Sorensen and Rocky Leann Pilgrim, Lethal Injection: Capital Punishment in Texas During the Modern Era. Journal of the West 45.4 (2006).
"The Racial Paradox of Tribal Citizenship." American Studies 46 (2005): 147-169.
"From the Red Core to the Black Sky: Corporate Crime in the Transnational Matrix." Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture 12 (2005): 148-165.
"Since September 11, All Roads Lead to Rome." Critical Criminology 13 (2005): 37-53.
"Sovereign Decisions: A Plan for Defeating Federal Review of Tribal Law Applications." Wicazo Sa Review 20 (2005): 93-108.
"Consent as a Defense to Criminal Liability," "Criminal Courts: Personnel," "Necessity as a Defense to Criminal Liability," and "Battered Women Defense to Criminal Liability." Encyclopedia of Criminology, eds. Richard A. Wright and J. Mitchell Miller, 2005. Vol. I, pp. 95-96, 224-226, 297-299, Vol. II, p. 1027
"In Search of the Meritocracy." American Indian Quarterly 27 (2004): 400-411.
"Levande Indianer" and "Döda Indianer." De Kallar Oss Indianer, ed. Annika Banfield, 2004. 93-117.
"Apples are the Color of Blood." Race and Ethnicity Across Time, Space and Discipline, ed. Rodney D. Coates, 2004. 19-30.
"The Jurisprudence of Colonialism." American Indian Thought, ed. Anne Waters, 2004. 17-228.
Book Review of Jedrzej George Frynas and Scott Pegg, eds., Transnational Corporations and Human Rights. Human Rights Quarterly 26.3 (2004): 783-785.
Book Review of Eva Marie Garroutte, Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America (University of California Press 2003). Political and Legal Anthropology Review 27.1 (2004): 47-153.
"Indian Civil Rights Act." Major Acts of Congress 2. Ed. Brian K. Landsberg, 2004. 186-188.
"Honor Rap," Pulse, http://www.heartsoundspress.com/poetrycontest03/poetrycontest03.html (May 4, 2004).
"Ethics, Alterity, Incommensurability, Honor." Cream City Review 27 (2003): 121-144 and Ayaangwaamizin: The International Journal of Indigenous Philosophy 3 (2003): 31-54.
"Invisible Emblems: Empty Words and Sacred Honor." Genocide of the Mind, ed. Marijo Moore, 2003). 211-227.
Book Review of David E. Wilkins and K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Uneven Ground: American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Law. H-AmIndian List (Michigan State University 2003).
"Indistinguishable Color." Coloring Book: An Eclectic Anthology of Fiction and Poetry by Multicultural Writers. Ed. Boice-Terrel Allen, 2003. 289-290.
"Disruption, 1997," Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy 18.2 (2003): 1-2.
"Honor, Lone Wolf, and Talking to the Wind." Tulsa Law Review 38 (2002): 147-157.
[with Michael J. Gilbert] "Social Control of Transnational Corporations in the Age of Marketocracy." International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002): 33-50.
[with Michael J. Gilbert] "Globalization of Criminal Justice in the Corporate Context." Crime, Law and Social Change 38 (2002): 211-238.
"Apples are the Color of Blood." Critical Sociology 28 (2002): 65-76.
"What Indians Want." Gatherings: The En'owkin Journal of First North American Peoples 13 (2002): 81-82.
Sara Sutler-Cohen
Sara has been awarded tenure at Bellevue Community College in Washington, where she serves as Chair of the Department of Sociology and
coordinates the American Indian Film Festival.
Rebecca Hatcher Travis
Her first book, Picked Apart the Bones, was selected winner of the 2006 First Book Award for Poetry by the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.
Ms. Travis will be signing her book on Saturday, October 4, 2008, in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, during the annual Chickasaw Festival on the grounds of
the Chickasaw Nation Capital building. Picked Apart the Bones is a collection of poems which draws strongly from her Chickasaw heritage. The
poems speak of ancestral homelands, the devastating time of removal, struggles for recovery and reaffirmation in a new territory as well as a reverence
for the natural world. Ms. Travis is a member of Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers, Bay Area Writers League, Gulf Coast poets and
the Poetry Society of Texas. Picked Apart the Bones will be available through the Chickasaw Press.
Terra Trevor
My first book, Pushing up the Sky: A Mother's Story, was released by KAAN books in 2006, and has received national acclaim. An excerpt from
Pushing up the Sky is included in Children of the Dragonfly: Native American Voices on Child Custody and Education, edited by Robert Bensen,
published by The University of Arizona Press. Children of the Dragonfly is the first anthology to document the struggle for Native American cultural
survival on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. Invoking the dragonfly spirit of the Zuni legend who helps children restore a way of life that has
been taken from them, it explores the breadth of the conflict about Native childhood. An excerpt from Pushing up the Sky, with a new introduction,
will also be included in Birthed from Scorched Hearts: Women Respond to War, edited by MariJo Moore, scheduled for release from Fulcrum
Publishing in December 2008.
Louis Whitehead
My latest book, Living Through Leukemia: A Journey to Health, came out a couple of months ago. I've been working on getting the word out about
that. One of my short stories, "Red Spirit Dream out of the Darkness," has been published in Ningwakwe Learning Press's 2008 anthology,
Zaagidiwin is a Many Splendoured Thing. Ningwakwe Learning Press is an Aboriginal publisher located in Owen Sound, Ontario.
Last updated: 5 March 2009
Contact: rnelson@richmond.edu