Since 1992, every issue of News from Native California has carried a feature loved and anticipated by its subscribers--a cartoon by L. Frank Manriquez. With backwards writing to slow the reader down, each cartoon places us in a whimsical and improbable world, challenging stereotypes about California Indians and preconceptions about life in general. Here we find Coyote in all his guises contradictions, the Creator of the Universe and the Buffoon, the Trickster and the Tricked, the Indian's Wise Fool. Always liminal, L. Frank's Coyote and friends have one foot in the modern world, the other in the ancient. Dressed in a suit and necktie, Coyote waits at a bus stop with a deer-head decoy mask and briefcase. Attending an art museum opening, he thinks of the wine and cheese. He's as modern as any of us, but still he's Coyote!
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
L. Frank's drawings create a whimsical, improbable, yet oddly familiar world. A descendant of the Tongva and Ajachmem people of Southern California, she works with a surgical precision and uniquely twisted sense of humor much admired by natives and non-natives alike. Her drawings address everything from creation stories to the ironies of indegenous life today, often witht he help of Coyote, California's native trickster.
L. Frank's images--collected into book form for the first time--bring withthem an enticing sense of hte ancient life of native California and a taste of hte eccentric, intelligent, subtle humor that has helped it to survive to this day.
About the Author
L. Frank Manriquez is a member of the Tongva and Ajachamen tribes of Southern California. She is an artist and tribal scholar active in cultural and language preservation throughout California. In 1995, she was recognized by KQED as one of the "Unsung Heroes" of the San Francisco Bay Area Native American community. She is currently teaching Native American Studies at University of California at Davis, and is living in Santa Rosa.
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By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This is definitely a factual look at California Native history but with a totally different approach, quietly slipping it in while we let the drawings and descriptions unfold. The text does have a substantial subtle humour, perhaps unintended, but there. L. Frank is brilliant, her appeal extends to many different peoples, especially those who understand and know California's history. But to deny the humour? Please explain for us. To quote from the distributor's, Heyday Books, recent catalogue
"Introducing the Gary Larson of the Native American cartoon world!" Is it supposed to be funny or not? Perhaps if the author feels it is not laughable, then she should consult with Heyday to remove that most recent description of her book.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This artist has a wonderfully wry and subtle sense of humor. The drawings combine a contemporary feel with the timelessness of animal iconography; for example, one of my favorites is "Coyote as a simple man" - coyote's seated in a recliner watching television! Funny and thought-provoking - an antidote to commercial corporate-conglomerate entertainment.
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