Smoke Dancing

by Gansworth, Eric L.

• ISBN13: 9780870137082
• ISBN10: 0870137085
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-04-01
• Publisher: Michigan State Univ Pr

Summary

The power struggle between traditionalists and progressives on a modern-day reservation is at the center of Eric Gansworth's latest work of fiction. Through the characters and their unique ;voices, ; he deftly develops the multiple viewpoints and arguments that currently exist on many reservations. These voices include a traditional chief and a modern-day group of young adults who, as neglected children, banded together in a traditional dance group. The narrative thread that connects these characters uses the metaphor of traditional dance and its relationship to the integrity of Iroquois culture. A number of the dance group have come to work in the growing empire formed by one of their members-selling tax-free cigarettes and gasoline on reservation land. This new economic base alters the balance of power on the reservation. At the center of the conflict is Fiction Tunny, a dancer and developing love interest of a man in the smoke business. She is also the illegitimate daughter of the chief, who refuses to acknowledge her; to admit she exists would be to admit he is not fit for his role of chief. Fiction's resentment of her father and the sometimes archaic nature of his life and government are juxtaposed with the predatory nature of the entrepreneur who begins pursuing her sexually at all costs. Fiction seeks a balance, a path that will ground her identity in tradition while following her ever-changing culture into the future.

Author Biography

Eric Gansworth is Associate Professor of English, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Prologue: Women's Shuffle	1	(4)
Fiction Tunny
PART ONE: RABBIT DANCE (a women's choice dance for couples)	5	(82)
ROUND ONE
Chapter 1: The Last Dance	7	(12)
Fiction Tunny
Chapter 2: Redman's Drop	19	(18)
Mason Rollins
ROUND TWO
Chapter 3: Harvest Moon Eclipse	37	(10)
Bud Tunny
Chapter 4: Unfinished Business	47	(12)
Fiction Tunny
ROUND THREE
Chapter 5: A Six-Chair Night	59	(12)
Fiction Tunny
Chapter 6: Curbside Phoenix	71	(18)
Big Red Harmony
PART TWO: STANDING QUIVER DANCE (a group war and hunting dance)	87	(88)
ROUND ONE: HUNTING
Chapter 7: The Sharpest Vision	89	(12)
Bud Tunny
Chapter 8: Frostbite	101	(18)
Big Red Harmony
Chapter 9: Winter Garden	119	(18)
Fiction Tunny
ROUND TWO: WARFARE
Chapter 10: Commodities	137	(12)
Mason Rollins
Chapter 11: Fighting and Flying	149	(14)
Fiction Tunny
Chapter 12: Undercurrents	163	(14)
Bud Tunny
PART THREE: SMOKE DANCE (an individual competition dance)	175
ROUND ONE
Chapter 13: Snap Shots	177	(12)
Big Red Harmony
Chapter 14: Bloodstone Mortar	189	(12)
Mason Rollin
Chapter 15: Washed in the Blood of the Land	201	(10)
Ruby Pem
Chapter 16: Mourning Rituals	211	(8)
Bud Tunny
Chapter 17: Rites of Passage	219	(8)
Patricia Tunny
Chapter 18: The First Dance	227
Two-step Harmony