Sojourners and Sundogs: First Nations Fiction

This latest volume from noted Canadian Native author Maracle brings together two previously published works, a novel (Sundogs) and a collection of short fiction (Sojourner's Truth). It also contains a new introduction by the author, putting her work in the context of Native American oral traditions. Sundogs is a poignant first-person account of young Marianne's struggle for identity in contemporary Vancouver: ""At home, I am not Indian enough and at school I am much too Indian."" The tension between the two worlds she must operate in nearly pulls Marianne apart. In the end, she learns to take pride in her heritage and discovers that her mother, often a source of embarrassment, is a person of profound worth. Like the novel, Maracle's short stories are female-focused, inviting readers into the complex and perplexing diversity of modern Native lives, far from inert stereotypes. Maracle's Indians eat Chinese food and peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches, listen to Patsy Cline and try to get along in a multicultural land that once belonged wholly to their people. An original Native voice in literature, Maracle's prose often swings with a poetic rhythm (poetry dots the collection). A passage from her novel could serve as a coda for the entire volume: ""The universe is made of small things. The colours of the mundane people in the world. Pain is momentary, small; light is huge, vast, varied, coloured."" The volume will reintroduce readers to a powerful voice that speaks boldly and gracefully of the regenerative spirit of ordinary people living in Native communities. (Nov.)