American Indian Poetry: An Anthology of Songs and Chants

First published in 1918, American Indian Poetry is a pioneer work of remarkable authenticity. Filled with pieces collected from Native Americans in their own languages and translated by leading scholars and poets of the day, it was the first book to give their oral verse its palce as an essential, vibrant part of North American literature. These songs and chants, ancient and modern, speak to the power and poignancy of ordinary life and to the deeply mystical. These are cries from a people at one with both spirit and earth, for all the world to hear and includes works from the major tribes from the Southeast to the Northwest Coast.