The light people Book

This is a Native American tapestry of memories within memories, stories within stories, and myths within myths that are interwoven with slyly humorous portraits of government bureaucrats, museum administrators, tribal elders, and the cross-cultural phenomena of contemporary Native American life. This said, the novel actually relates the deeply personal quest of Oskinaway for his parents, spanning decades and encompassing the dizzying complexity of rapidly changing tribal life as it does. We meet shamans old, young, and wanna-be as well as tribal politicos willing to cancel bingo in order to ensure full turnout for dignitaries coming from Washington "to commemorate the quincentenary of Columbus' arrival in North America [and who] want this rez [i.e., reservation] to be part of a nationwide celebration." The cast of characters also includes such unlikely members as Four Bear's lost leg, which ends up in a museum case, and the "prisoner of haiku," a sculptor-saboteur incarcerated for setting politically motivated fires that are famous for their beauty, "for the sabotage was never performed without the grace and idealism of the artist."