blue, like Night Sky
by antoinette nora claypoole
book excerpts click here...xox
by antoinette nora claypoole
book excerpts click here...xox
or at amazon.com
Set in "Indian Country", near the Dine (Navajo) ancestral homelands of
Big Mountain, Az. "blue" is based on true events. The fictional
story is the second of a trilogy of books based on the author's life
inside the American Indian Movement. Rivers is a fiction, yet reflects
"Indian life" in the last half of the 20th century and is inspired by
the Dine resistance movement--their attempt to maintain a Traditional
life on their homelands. It is the story of two women who met in the
1980's: one Dine and the other, a hippy "transplant" from back East.
The book is mythological in the telling, yet includes true stories about
life in resistance, coupled with documented, historical newsclips and
excerpts from actual taped interviews.
Considered by many as the most tragic acts of genocide since the Indian wars of the 1800's, attempted forced relocation of Dine (Navajo) from their homeland in Arizona is the theme of
For over 20 years some Dine (Navajo) have resisted that forced relocation program that would take them from their altar.
Beginning in 1984 the author, antoinette nora claypoole, helped provide support to those impacted by this U.S. government policy. blue, like Night Sky is a fiction book which tells a story of life in such a crisis, based on events which happened to and around the author.
The book includes an extensive appendix and endnotes documenting these facts, actual letters written by Dine resistors, including Roberta Blackgoat and Pauline Whitesinger, as well as a public statement made by Chief Arvol Looking Horse. All the work helps the reader understand what we all face in these times.
As part of his endorsement of the project, Ed Little Crow, Lakota/Dakota poet and former member of the American Indian Movement says of the project and antoinette nora's efforts:
"Antoinette came from back East before the Freedom of Religion Act, before the changes for Indian Children in the Child Welfare System. Back in the 1970's. when she came to Oregon they were still arrresting Indians in small towns. She started working on Indian rights when it was not popular to be Indian. It takes a very special person to do this kind of thing".
