When the Beasts Spoke: The Ecopoetics of Joy Harjo

Year 2007, Issue: 26, 69 - 73, 01.10.2007

João De Mancelos

Abstract

An ancient Native American proverb advises: “Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” In their work, many Native American poets have reflected on the problem of the destruction of the environment. In Luminaries of the Humble 1994 , Elizabeth Woody considers the dangers of nuclear energy for nature and for the human species; Sherman Alexie focuses on the same theme in The Summer of Black Widows 1996 ; while in Light in the Crevice Never Seen 1994 Haunani Kay-Trask laments the deconsecration of the earth by colonisers in the name of industry

References

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