|
978-0-89587-219-7
0-89587-219-6
$21.95 hardcover
8 1/2" x 9 1/2"
242 pages black-and-white photographs, appendix,
index
Frye Gaillard's
other books published and
distributed by Blair:
If
I Were A Carpenter
The Heart of Dixie:
Southern Rebels, Renegades, and Heroes
Lessons From the Big
House |
"Frye
Gaillard has offered a moving story of survival--but more than survival,
a renaissance of the Native American people. In the area east of the
Mississippi River, they are no longer a 'vanishing race.' They are here
to stay in the land which always has been theirs, from year one, long
before others ever came. Despite the difficulties they face, this is a
hopeful, exhilarating tale." --Studs Terkel
"Frye
Gaillard in words and Carolyn DeMeritt with images has filled a broad
gap in our knowledge of tribes in the southern and eastern United
States, past and present. Especially absorbing are the accounts of
little-known but important peoples whose ancestors escaped removal to
the west." --Dee Brown
"There's a
continuum of culture that makes us one, that makes us a family,"
says Lynn Harlan, cultural director of the Cherokee Nation. "We
have always been in this place together. This is where the creator put
us."
Indeed, there's a
resurgence of pride among the Indians of the South and East, and it
takes many forms. Every August, the Penobscots of Maine stage a
hundred-mile journey by canoe against the river or on foot through the
forests, mirroring the ancient migrations. Every November in Plymouth,
Massachusetts, Wampanoags and other Indians gather for the Day of
Mourning, a counter-celebration of Thanksgiving. Once a year, Lumbees in
Charlotte board buses for a trip to the tribe's homeland and a day of
baptizing and hymns. In Louisiana, the Chitimachas run a school where
eighty children are served by twenty teachers and a scholarship fund
pays for students' education at any university where they can gain
admission.
From the Atlantic to
the Mississippi, tribes are pursuing federal recognition, undertaking
land-claim cases, and running commercial enterprises that are bringing
economic development unknown in their history. But the efforts run
deeper than that. In their quest to embrace both the past and the
future, the tribes are also relearning the ancestral languages, reviving
the crafts, and reawakening the old ceremonies.
As Long As the
Waters Flow takes an honest look at the problems facing the Southern
and Eastern tribes and celebrates the people who continue to maintain
their native identity despite the pressures of the dominant culture.
about the author and
photographer
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Frye Gaillard is the author of over
fifteen books, including If
I Were A Carpenter: Twenty Years of Habitat for Humanity, which
won Small Press Magazine's Book Award for History/Political/Current
Events. He lives near Charlotte.
Carolyn DeMeritt is a
self-taught photographer and videographer whose award-winning work has
been shown internationally and whose films have been twice nominated for
an Emmy.
|
