Sherman Alexie is a Spokane–Coeur d’Alene-Native American poet and novelist. He is regarded as one of America’s most important contemporary writers. He won the 2007 National Book Award and the American Book Award in 1996. His books include The Long Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and Reservation Blues.
‘The Powwow at the End of the World’ by Sherman Alexie is a stunning poem that reveals the apocalyptic price of an indigenous person’s forgiveness.
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after an Indian woman puts her shoulder to the Grand Coulee Dam
and topples it. I am told by many of you that I must forgive
and so I shall after the floodwaters burst each successive dam
‘Crow Testament’ by Sherman Alexie presents a picture of the hardships suffered by Native Americans through the image of a crow.
‘What the Orphan Inherits’ by Sherman Alexie is a powerful piece about contending with the world as a Native American child after becoming an orphan.
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