{"product_id":"songs-blood-deep-9781737405146","title":"Songs, Blood Deep","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"The poems are quiet and powerful, understated and deeply moving.\"--Carter Revard, author of \u003ci\u003eHow the Songs Come Down: New \u0026amp; Selected Poems\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat flows deep from the heart songs of\u003cbr\u003ethese poems is Gwen Westerman's proud and profound engagement with and\u003cbr\u003etransmission of closely held cultural values of the Dakota people.\u003cbr\u003eOriginating from the prairies of the Great Plains, this is a\u003cbr\u003ecollection that affirms a passion for family, community, and the\u003cbr\u003eenvironment. Westerman draws upon both English and the Dakota\u003cbr\u003elanguage to celebrate the survival of her people and articulate the\u003cbr\u003econflicts of the past and present, so that an enriched future will\u003cbr\u003eendure. The long opening poem reclaims the Mississippi River as a sacred resource, \"In the beginning\/\u003ci\u003ede Dakota Makoce\/\u003c\/i\u003ethis was a Dakota place.\/The water was pure.\" Historical\u003cbr\u003emisinformation about the First Peoples is unmasked, the record set\u003cbr\u003estraight apart from how explorers and conquering armies have wrongly\u003cbr\u003eportrayed the past. Herein life-affirming words are\u003cbr\u003econveyed from grandmother, to mother, to children and offered as a\u003cbr\u003egift to the reader, \"This is my give-away--to touch what is good in you\/with words your heart can hear.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-15334360\"\u003eGwen Nell Westerman\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Holy Cow Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/03\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 82\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.80h x 5.80w x 0.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781737405146\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1737405148\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-POE\"\u003ePoetry\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-POE015000\"\u003eAmerican | Native American\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-POE\"\u003ePoetry\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-POE024000\"\u003eWomen Authors\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS028000\"\u003eIndigenous Peoples in the Americas\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGwen Nell Westerman's\u003c\/b\u003e roots are deep in the landscape of the tall grass prairie, and reveal themselves in her art and writing through the languages and traditions of her family. She is an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota Oyate, her father's people, and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, her mother's people. She is the co-author of \u003ci\u003eMni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota\u003c\/i\u003e which won a 2013 Minnesota Book Award, and a 2014 Hognander Minnesota History Award. Gwen's poems, essays, and short stories appear in numerous publications, including the \u003ci\u003eNorton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e (2020); the Minnesota issue of \u003ci\u003eQuiltfolk\u003c\/i\u003e (January 2020); and \u003ci\u003eNew Poets of Native Nations\u003c\/i\u003e (Graywolf Press, 2018). Her poetry collection \u003ci\u003eFollow the Blackbirds\u003c\/i\u003e (2013) was published by Michigan State University Press. She holds her BA and MA in English from Oklahoma State University, and PhD in English from the University of Kansas. She teaches American and Native Nations literatures, Technical Communication, and Humanities to undergraduate and graduate students at Minnesota State University, Mankato.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 2021, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appointed Westerman as the third Minnesota State Poet Laureate. She resides near Mankato, Minnesota. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Holy Cow Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44485456429293,"sku":"9781737405146","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_87b8919a-4a70-4a95-9474-0777903db461.jpg?v=1700804379","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/songs-blood-deep-9781737405146","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}