The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions

The acts of aggression committed against every aspect of
American Indian life and society over the centuries—what the
Aztecs foresaw as Nine Hells or Nine Descents—have left
indelible, searing scars on the minds and spirits of the native
peoples on this continent. But voices of the spirits that inform
Native America are being heard in every region.
This section is devoted to a number of studies of traditional
and contemporary American Indian literature. The oral tradition,
from which the contemporary poetry and fiction take their
significance and authenticity, has, since contact with white
people, been a major force in Indian resistance. It has kept the
people conscious of their tribal identity, their spiritual
traditions, and their connection to the land and her creatures.
Contemporary poets and writers take their cue from the oral
tradition, to which they return continuously for theme, symbol,
structure, and motivating impulse as well as for the philosophic
bias that animates our work.