Book Review: Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir
2013 by
Deborah A. Miranda
Paperback, 6 x 9, 240 pagesISBN: 978-1-59714-201-4
Author Deborah Miranda writes in the introduction to this
book: “Human beings have no other way of knowing that we exist, or what we have
survived, except through the vehicle of story.” She also states, “My ancestors,
collectively, are the story-bridge that allows me to be here. I am honored to
be one of the bridges back to them, to their words and experiences.”
I love how Deborah Miranda has taken all the pieces she has
of her family history and woven them together in this story. Using old
government documents, BIA forms, field notes, diaries of explorers and priests,
photographs, family stories and genealogy work her mother had done, she created
a beautiful tribute to her ancestors and allowed their voices to be heard along
with her own voice in the form of poems and commentary that are insightful and
moving. It’s not always pretty and some parts may be disturbing, but she tells
the truth of her personal history and is able to hold in her hands the bad and
the good of a person with dignity and honor.
Every family has a story no matter what form it may take.
And every family has someone who seems destined to tell it. I believe Deborah
Miranda knew that she was the one.
I have always felt strongly that I was called in some way to
be one who tells the story as well and the bridge image or metaphor resonates
with me personally. I wrote in the preface of my chronicle of the Hardy family:
“…I am happy knowing that I played a part in bridging the gap between the future
and the past.”
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