Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)

STUDIES - Bruce J. Degi: Braiding the New Native American Narrative: Michael Dorrié Yellow Raft in Blue Water.

BRUCE J. DEGI BRAIDING THE NEW NATIVE AMERICAN NARRATIVE: MICHAEL DORRIS' YELLOW RAFT IN BLUE WATER In his introduction to American Indian Policy in the Twentieth Century, noted author and American Indian activist Vme Deloria, Jr., makes the following observation: There is, admittedly, considerably more to contemporary Indian life than legal and political notions, and it may be that unforeseen cultural changes may create a new climate in which policy considerations can be seen differently. But history tells us that cultural changes of any magnitude follow structural and institutional changes in the manner in which Indians live. The profound cultural changes Indians have experienced in the past century were partially derived from changes in the role and status of tribal governments caused by actions of the United States. Cultural renewal always seems to rush into the vacuum created by new ways of doing things... (14) One measure of the cultural changes Deloria mentions most certainly comes through an examination of contemporary native American literature, and especially how it is read by those outside of native American communities. From Black Elk Speaks

, narrated by Black Elk to researcher John G. Neihardt in 1932, to the Pulitzer Prize 23