Calling for a blanket dance : a novel

Title:

Author:

Hokeah, Oscar, 1975-, author.

Personal Author:

Hokeah, Oscar, 1975-, author.

ISBN:

9781643751474

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

258 pages ; 22 cm

Contents:

Lena Stopp Vincent Geimausaddle Hayes Shade Lila Geimausaddle-Quoetone Quinton Quoetone Turtle Geimausaddle Yolanda "Sissy" Chavez Hank Quoetone raceli Chavez Leander Chasenuh Opbee Geimausaddle Ever Geimausaddle

Abstract:

"Told in a series of voices, Calling for a Blanket Dance takes us into the life of Ever Geimausaddle through the multigenerational perspectives of his family as they face myriad obstacles. His father's injury at the hands of corrupt police, his mother's struggle to hold on to her job and care for her husband, the constant resettlement of the family, and the legacy of centuries of injustice all intensify Ever's bottled-up rage. Meanwhile, all of Ever's relatives have ideas about who he is and who he should be. His Cherokee grandmother urges the family to move across Oklahoma to find security; his grandfather hopes to reunite him with his heritage through traditional gourd dances; his Kiowa cousin reminds him that he's connected to an ancestral past. And once an adult, Ever must take the strength given to him by his relatives to save not only himself but also the next generation of family. How will this young man visualize a place for himself when the world hasn't given him a place to start with?"--Amazon.com.

Subject Term:

Indians of North America -- Fiction.

Indians of North America -- Family relationships -- Fiction.

Indians of North America -- Kinship -- Fiction.

Indians of North America -- Folklore -- Influence -- Fiction.

Identity (Psychology)

Families -- Fiction.

Indigenous peoples -- Fiction.

Genre:

Social problem fiction.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
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Summary

"STUNNING." --Susan Power, author of The Grass DancerA moving and deeply engaging debut novel about a young Native American man finding strength in his familial identity, from a stellar new voice in fiction. Oscar Hokeah's electric debut takes us into the life of Ever Geimausaddle, whose family--part Mexican, part Native American--is determined to hold onto their community despite obstacles everywhere they turn. Ever's father is injured at the hands of corrupt police on the border when he goes to visit family in Mexico, while his mother struggles both to keep her job and care for her husband. And young Ever is lost and angry at all that he doesn't understand, at this world that seems to undermine his sense of safety. Ever's relatives all have ideas about who he is and who he should be. His Cherokee grandmother, knowing the importance of proximity, urges the family to move across Oklahoma to be near her, while his grandfather, watching their traditions slip away, tries to reunite Ever with his heritage through traditional gourd dances. Through it all, every relative wants the same: to remind Ever of the rich and supportive communities that surround him, there to hold him tight, and for Ever to learn to take the strength given to him to save not only himself but also the next generation. How will this young man visualize a place for himself when the world hasn't made room for him to start with? Honest, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting, Calling for a Blanket Dance is the story of how Ever Geimausaddle finds his way home.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

A debut novel, told in a round robin of voices, depicts the complexities of contemporary Indigenous life. As an infant, Ever Geimausaddle accompanies his parents on a road trip from Oklahoma to Mexico for a visit with his paternal grandparents. On the drive home, their car is pulled over and Ever's father is mercilessly beaten by three corrupt policemen looking for a payoff. Ever was "so close to the violence, too close to the rage," opines his Cherokee grandmother, Lena. "Oos-dis weren't supposed to be around such things. They could be witched. Their spirit forever altered. A witching was almost incurable." Has Ever indeed been witched by witnessing this primal act of violence? Ever's mother, Turtle, calls the notion "superstitious mumbo jumbo," yet the question hovers over the troubled protagonist of this immersive novel by a writer of Cherokee, Kiowa, and Mexican descent. Twelve chapters, each narrated by a different member of Ever's expansive clan, form a prismatic portrait of the character as he grows up, makes a bad marriage, serves in the Army, becomes a father, works at a youth shelter, and struggles with his aggressive temperament while attempting to make a life for himself. The narrative technique recalls Rachel Cusk's Outline in that we learn about the protagonist obliquely; as in the novels of Louise Erdrich and Tommy Orange, the chorus of voices--rendered in unadorned vernacular peppered with Indigenous words--evokes a close-knit Native community in all its varied humanity, anchored by tradition while marked by injustices past and present. A final chapter, narrated by Ever himself, offers, if not redemption, then a sense of hope. Simply told and true to life. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.