God's drum, and other cycles from Indian lore

Description

Encovragements, for such as shall have intention to bee vnder-takers in the new… is a collection of lyric and narrative poems written in the early 20th century. It is a poetic work that draws on Indigenous North American lore and cosmology, presenting nature, ritual, and memory in vivid, ceremonial language. The likely topic is the spiritual and cultural life of Native peoples across the Plains and the Southwest, set against changing landscapes and histories. The book moves through cycles that personify the earth and sky, from dawn to dusk, and from wind and thunder to mirage and blizzard on the prairie. It sings of courage, love, war, and death in intimate “spirit songs,” recalls mythic beginnings and endings, and confronts colonization’s violence and grief. A central sequence interprets Pueblo art-in-life—pottery, beadwork, dances, and harvest rites—celebrating Corn Maidens, syncretic feast days, and the rise and ruin of a great pueblo. The closing hymns invoke Aztec deities—Tezcatlipoca, Xochiquetzal, Quetzalcoatl, Tonatiuh, and Xiuhtecutli—honoring rain, fire, sun, and fertility. Throughout, the poems weave ceremony with landscape, mourning with resilience, to affirm a world where beauty, ritual, and survival are one. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Subjects

• Indians of North America -- Poetry
• PS