Native American Songs and Poems: An Anthology Book

This anthology is broken into two parts:
The first half is a collection of traditional and ritual poems and songs. The second half is made up of works by contemporary poets.

With regards to the first half:
This is not Frost. This is not Yeats. This is not Dr. Suess. Do *not* go into this anthology expecting anything like what Western lit has taught you to think of poetry as. Do that and you will risk missing the beauty of these poems. That these words were/are part of something bigger - a part of ceremonies, dances, rituals and celebrations - is obvious and an intrinsic part of their beauty. The anthropology geek in me found much to fawn over.

As for the second half, there's really nothing I can say that will describe it sufficiently. The poems are funny, heartbreaking, eyeopening, and come from a wide pool of experiences within a marginalized population. I've discovered a number of new poets whose work I want to read more of and that's never a bad thing.

In short, go read it.