American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
If souls could bleed, you would find the evidence all over Joy Harjo's An American Sunrise. Her poignant and lyrical genius dictates a visual and symbolic understanding of Native American suffering. This book is a must-read for those who love poetry, have compassion toward Native Americans and all native people, and wish to hear the voices of those who have come before and are still here.
Joy Harjo is a member of the Mvskoke (Muscogee - Creek) Nation and belongs to the Oce Vpofy (Hickory Ground). She is the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. She has nine volumes of poetry published and has achieved honors which include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas, the Josephine Miles Poetry Award, the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America, and the American Indian Distinguished Achievement in the Arts Award.
Harjo's poetry is a phenomenal piece of the 20th Century Native American Renaissance movement. Her work is personal and includes memories from those who were members of the Mvkjoke tribe, survivors of the Trail of Tears, and the voices of indigenous peoples. Below is my opinion and review of this poet's work, An American Sunrise.
Numeric Breakdown:
1: didn't like it
2: it was okay
3. liked it
4. really liked it
5. it was amazing
1. Writing Style: 5/5
Joy Harjo uses symbols, images, and landscape to share her memoir-like poetry with the world. Most of her poetry books revolve around the social and collective background of Native Americans. She uses her voice to delve into the struggles they have faced and continue to face, as well as touching on more personal relationships, spiritual lives, the oppression of women, the oppression and colonization of the Native land, and so much more.
Her words pluck at the heart and turn each past action into a film before your eyes. She uses the memories of her ancestors and those who survived the Trail of Tears to share these words of wisdom through a filtered but refined process. The style is narrative within the confines of personal exposure, understanding, and recollections of her community as a whole.
Reading this author's poetry, I can't seem to settle on any one particular style. Certain poems exhibit a narrative voice throughout, utilizing third person point of view. However, there feels to be a first person, lyric poem here and there as well. She even shares in the elegy style, particularly with "Washing My Mother's Body."
4. Overall enjoyment of the story based on the genre: 5/5
My enjoyment of this genre comes from the respect of hearing a Native American's voice, of hearing their truth shared. Despite the distressing scenes playing out before me, it is liberating to know someone is reaching out to tell their own story, in their own words. Every page, every poem, has ended in tears. I can feel them working their way through me as I picture the places and people Harjo tells her audience about.
5. Overall enjoyment of the story based on the content: 5/5
I don't think this section fully encapsulates what I'm feeling in terms of the content. It certainly wasn't a happy read, but it was vital. On some level, it stops being about what is comfortable and beautiful to read, and instead, it becomes about what is critical to read. I felt as if my spirit needed to read this book and hear what tales it would tell, not because those narratives would fill me with joy, but because the candor explodes in your face and demands to be heard. I didn't necessarily gain pleasure from the reading, but I gained something inherently more valuable. The take-away from this reading is that there are always chances to understand, grow, and change. This book of knowledge gives me insight, and awareness is always the first step in action.
6. Overall Story Rating: 5/5
This is one of those books that I will own until the end of my days, but which will also carry a piece of me with it. The words are honest and heartbreaking. It's one of those poetry books that speaks volumes without consuming all the words it could spout forth. Joy Harjo does a miraculous job of putting together such a deep and stirring tribute to her heritage, culture, and Native family. It's an honor to read it, and I hope it will never leave my heart. I highly recommend this book of truth to anyone who wants to understand on a more emotional, spiritual, and personal level the plight, history, and life of the Native Americans.
Joy Harjo is a member of the Mvskoke (Muscogee - Creek) Nation and belongs to the Oce Vpofy (Hickory Ground). She is the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. She has nine volumes of poetry published and has achieved honors which include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas, the Josephine Miles Poetry Award, the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America, and the American Indian Distinguished Achievement in the Arts Award.
Harjo was born in Tulse, Oklahoma and began writing poetry in the University of New Mexico's Native student organization, Kiva Club, which she was a member. Her continued education contained earning her MFA at the Iowa's Writers' Workshop, and she has taught English, Creative Writing, and American Indian Studies at the University of California-Los Angeles, University of New Mexico, University of Arizona, Arizona State, University of Illinois, University of Colorado, University of Hawai’i, Institute of American Indian Arts, and University of Tennessee.
This poet also is a musician with her band, Poetic Justice, as a saxophonist and vocalist. Currently, she is a Professor and Chair of Excellence in Creative Writing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and is a founding board member of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.
For more information about this author, her work, and the Native American people, please check out these sites:
Harjo's poetry is a phenomenal piece of the 20th Century Native American Renaissance movement. Her work is personal and includes memories from those who were members of the Mvkjoke tribe, survivors of the Trail of Tears, and the voices of indigenous peoples. Below is my opinion and review of this poet's work, An American Sunrise.
Numeric Breakdown:
1: didn't like it
2: it was okay
3. liked it
4. really liked it
5. it was amazing
1. Writing Style: 5/5
Joy Harjo uses symbols, images, and landscape to share her memoir-like poetry with the world. Most of her poetry books revolve around the social and collective background of Native Americans. She uses her voice to delve into the struggles they have faced and continue to face, as well as touching on more personal relationships, spiritual lives, the oppression of women, the oppression and colonization of the Native land, and so much more.
Her words pluck at the heart and turn each past action into a film before your eyes. She uses the memories of her ancestors and those who survived the Trail of Tears to share these words of wisdom through a filtered but refined process. The style is narrative within the confines of personal exposure, understanding, and recollections of her community as a whole.
Reading this author's poetry, I can't seem to settle on any one particular style. Certain poems exhibit a narrative voice throughout, utilizing third person point of view. However, there feels to be a first person, lyric poem here and there as well. She even shares in the elegy style, particularly with "Washing My Mother's Body."
However, no matter what type of style or point of view being used in this book of poetry, Joy Harjo's voice is clear with its humility, humanity, sorrow, and blunt recollection of the world and how it works. The devastating past meets the hopeful, yet desolated, present. Sharing her ancestor's past, the degradation of the Natives by those who came to colonize their land, and the continued ignorance and detached care of today is both poignant and disturbing.
2. Overall Content: 5/5
3. Hooks/Attention-kept: 5/5
Every poem becomes its own hook. The desire to keep reading stems from the images she paints across the pages. It's the history of our brothers and sisters, who have not been treated as equal family members. Its the strength throughout the indignity inflicted upon them from past to present. It is the tears, like blood, leaked across the pages in word form which stir memories of the past. It is the loss, the hope, the attempt to comprehend that keeps our eyes flying across the pages. Reading each page becomes a sense of mourning for what has happened and what cannot be undone.
"As a poet, Harjo viewed a changing society as an opportunity to explore the new attitudes toward her culture and humanity through writing" (Poets & Writers: 50 & Forward). Although considered a feminist poet, Harjo adheres to the concept throughout her work as one being a warrior and overcoming the obstacles that come her way. Within an interview, she mentioned that when she's looking at herself she tries to recognize the warrior within and see that truth in "self-love, vulnerability, honesty, integrity, a sense of morals, and so on" (Poets & Writers: 50 & Forward).
Her writing not only explores the warrior and female power within herself, but she tries to find its overall definition in how women, especially Indian women, can define themselves and their cultural value. Although she struggles with this definition, she works to accept herself in all of her many forms. It is through this self-discovery that she attempts to harmonize the parts of herself which fight for prominence and understanding. Her poetry is, in part, an exercise of this comprehension and action in words.
There isn't anything I can say which would be equal to the power Harjo brings to the page. Her poem "Exile of Memory" is haunting, and the line within stating: "For what they see/The highways, the houses, the stores of interlopers/Perched over the blood fields/Where the dead last stood" (pg 6) hit me so hard, it was like a punch in the gut. I started sobbing at that moment. Other lines from this same poem continued to batter me with their harsh truth: "The children were stolen from these beloved lands by the government..." "Grief is killing us. Anger is tormenting us. Sadness eating us with disease..." "If we pay enough, maybe we can buy ourselves back..." (pg 9-11).
The context of this poetry is set in reality, and all I can think of is: How can we make amends? How can we help change what has been done? How can we learn?
"The Fight" speaks a very critical line which I feel many can relate to in some form or other, but still sheds light upon this particular piece of history and culture. "I grow tired of the heartache/Of every small and large war/Passed from generation/To generation" (pg 21). I feel as if no truer words were spoken. "Honoring" gives me lines that reflect me own values, "Let's honor the maker./Let's honor what's made" (pg 69).
I could go from poem to poem and write out a favorite line or stanza. I could pour over the legitimacy of the voices crying out in these words from generations ago. I could tell you how much I love this work and wish for a happier ending. However, you would have to read it, in its entirety, in order to fully capture its essence and soul.
3. Hooks/Attention-kept: 5/5
Every poem becomes its own hook. The desire to keep reading stems from the images she paints across the pages. It's the history of our brothers and sisters, who have not been treated as equal family members. Its the strength throughout the indignity inflicted upon them from past to present. It is the tears, like blood, leaked across the pages in word form which stir memories of the past. It is the loss, the hope, the attempt to comprehend that keeps our eyes flying across the pages. Reading each page becomes a sense of mourning for what has happened and what cannot be undone.
4. Overall enjoyment of the story based on the genre: 5/5
My enjoyment of this genre comes from the respect of hearing a Native American's voice, of hearing their truth shared. Despite the distressing scenes playing out before me, it is liberating to know someone is reaching out to tell their own story, in their own words. Every page, every poem, has ended in tears. I can feel them working their way through me as I picture the places and people Harjo tells her audience about.
5. Overall enjoyment of the story based on the content: 5/5
I don't think this section fully encapsulates what I'm feeling in terms of the content. It certainly wasn't a happy read, but it was vital. On some level, it stops being about what is comfortable and beautiful to read, and instead, it becomes about what is critical to read. I felt as if my spirit needed to read this book and hear what tales it would tell, not because those narratives would fill me with joy, but because the candor explodes in your face and demands to be heard. I didn't necessarily gain pleasure from the reading, but I gained something inherently more valuable. The take-away from this reading is that there are always chances to understand, grow, and change. This book of knowledge gives me insight, and awareness is always the first step in action.
6. Overall Story Rating: 5/5
This is one of those books that I will own until the end of my days, but which will also carry a piece of me with it. The words are honest and heartbreaking. It's one of those poetry books that speaks volumes without consuming all the words it could spout forth. Joy Harjo does a miraculous job of putting together such a deep and stirring tribute to her heritage, culture, and Native family. It's an honor to read it, and I hope it will never leave my heart. I highly recommend this book of truth to anyone who wants to understand on a more emotional, spiritual, and personal level the plight, history, and life of the Native Americans.
Thank you for joining me, and as always, Happy Reading!!
~Rebecca Reddell
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