I Tell You Now: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers

A rich diversity of attitude, experience, and literary style can be seen in I Tell You Now. For these Native American writers, being caught between two cultures has sharpened the struggle for self-identity and a sense of self-worth. They describe their bittersweet memories of childhood and family life, their fight against prejudice and poverty, their triumph over personal problems, their role models and schooling, their reverence for the land and anger over the rape of it, and their sources of artistic inspiration. Metaphorically or literally, they do go home again—to a proud and dignified cultural heritage. And the vehicle for these inheritors of an oral tradition is the written word.

The contributors are Mary TallMountain, Ralph Salisbury, Maurice Kenny, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Carter Revard, Jim Barnes, Gerald Vizenor, Jack D. Forbes, Duane Niatum, Paula Gunn Allen, Jimmie Durham, Diane Glancy, Simon J. Ortiz, Joseph Bruchac, Barney Bush, Linda Hogan, Wendy Rose, and Joy Harjo.

In their introduction, the editors, Brian Swann and Arnold Krupat, trace the history of Native American autobiography in its various forms.