Review for Evidence of Red, by Leanne Howe

Evidence of Red is a powerful literary commentary on a part of American history that most history classes just tend to gloss over: the wars for land between the colonists and the Native Americans, and the tribal politics underneath that bigger conflict. What struck me most about the poetry was the vivid imagery and compelling emotions, ranging from bitter irony to blooming rage. The prose caught me off guard with its powerful voice and detailed satirical narrative. Leanne Howe tells readers exactly what she thinks of monotheistic religion, the wars between the different denominations, and the American government's treatment of the American Indian peoples.

She makes fun of everything we think we know about the Native Americans - how connected with nature we think they are, the way we display their ways of life in museums, and concocts two caricatures of the typical depictions of Native Americans: the noble savage and the Indian mascot. A lot of symbolism is also evoked within her short plays, and they illuminate her perspectives on her identity and heritage. The rhythm of the words is fairly erratic, with a new pace for each piece, and that keeps a person reading. There is also a subtext of gender issues written about here, given the number of times that female characters appear, but I can't be certain whether that part is just my overanalysis.

The words that she incorporates from her native tongue are disorienting at first, but once I got used to it, it seems as though all the English words revolve around them. Her descriptions of family and who is related to who in some essays - or prose poetry, it seems hard to classify - are disorienting as well, but that is because I am not familiar with the way Native American culture thinks about family. Most of the concepts, culture, emotions and almost everything in this book would feel new to the average American poetry reader.

I recommend this book to just about everyone, precisely because her words and stories are so disorienting. I feel that everyone must get a taste of her perspective and powerful storytelling, because she spits on the patriotic sentiment that many Americans take for granted. The common reader should read this book to remember the worst that the American government can do, beyond having a faulty intelligence that led the nation into war. This is a history that the public schools and our educational system only gloss over, but a history that the author and her people live with everyday.