Dirt Is Red Here, The: Art and Poetry from Native California [Paperback]

Margaret Dubin (Editor), Sylvia Ross (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2002

This collection is an explosion of light and color. It reflects the thousands of years in which native people have enjoyed California landscapes, fragmented by the historical events of the past two hundred years.

Drawn from the archives and resources of News from Native California, the quarterly magazine that for nearly fifteen years has documented and celebrated California Indian art and culture, The Dirt Is Red Here includes well-known poets as well as little-known visual artists and those whose work is known internationally. All are living descendants of the indigenous tribes of California.

Sumptuously designed and printed, and filled with insight, power, and creativity, this book has a unique scope and universal appeal. A delightful surprise for readers unfamiliar with California art and literature and a long-anticipated treasure for those who know the field, The Dirt Is Red Here extends our sense not only of what it means to be Indian, but what it means to be human.

Editorial Reviews

Review

''...a stunning collection of poetry and visual art...that should be read by all students of Native America.'' --Patricia Penn Hilden, author of When Nickles Were Indians: An Urban, Mixed-Blood Story

''The little-known California Indian tribes...are able to transport one into marvelous dreams of atavistic worlds.'' -- Wayne Thiebaud, painter

''To read The Dirt Is Red Here: Art and Poetry from Native California is to experience the thriving and dynamic life of a continuing land and people. No matter the invasion by Spanish conquistadors, no matter the devastation of the Gold Rush, no matter Silicon Valley! These are Chumash, Hupa, Maidu, Miwok, Chukchansi, Achumawe, Atsugewi, Luiseno, Paiute, Yurok, Ohlone, Wintu, Karuk and more, many more, saying, 'This is our home. We are here. This is our art, and this is our poetry.''' ----Simon J. Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo), author of Out There Somewhere, After and Before the Lightning, Men on the Moon

About the Author

Margaret Dubin is managing editor of News from Native California, author of Native America Collected: The Culture of an Art World (University of New Mexico Press, 2001), and editor of Spring Salmon, Hurry to Me!: The Seasons of Native California and Seaweed, Salmon, and Manzanita Cider: A California Indian Feast.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Heyday (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890771546
• ISBN-13: 978-1890771546
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Raised in West Los Angeles, in her youth the California writer, Sylvia Ross, worked as a cell painter for Walt Disney Productions in Burbank. Later, her family moved to the Central Valley where she earned a degree at FSU. For many years she taught in a school attended by the children from the Tule River Indian Reservation, finding it a good fit. Through her mother's lineage, Ross is a Yokuts Indian descendant.

She is the author of two cultural children's books: LION SINGER, 2005 and BLUE JAY GIRL, 2010. She is also the author of the adult works: ACORNS AND ABALONE, a small collection of writing and drawings, 2011, and the novel, ACTS OF KINDNESS, ACTS OF CONTRITION, 2011.

Her work is published in a number of anthologies: THE DIRT IS RED HERE, 2002; SPRING SALMON, HURRY TO ME, 2008; THE ILLUMINATED LANDSCAPE, A Sierra Nevada Anthology, 2010; LEAVES FROM THE VALLEY OAK, 2011; and she contributed to the Native cookbook, SEAWEED, SALMON, AND MANZANITA CIDER, 2008. She gives frequent readings of her work at venues in her home state and had work featured in the touring exhbit, SING ME YOUR STORY, DANCE ME HOME, 2008-2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Harvest of The Riches of a Multicultural Country, November 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Dirt Is Red Here, The: Art and Poetry from Native California (Paperback)

The Dirt Is Red Here is an astonishingly beautiful book of vibrant contemporary statements of enduring peoples. It is a treasure. The poems of Shaunna Oteka McCovey are inconcomparably poignant, often powerful in their wry, beautiful simplicity. This small book has a message that resonates hugely. One wants to hear and see more.

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical, May 20, 2011

By 

Emily "Em's Joie de Weird" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dirt Is Red Here, The: Art and Poetry from Native California (Paperback)

I started a new job at the Heard Museum book store (in Phoenix, AZ) in April, and I have been trying very hard not to spend my entire paycheck in there. But the other day, as I was tidying the shelves, my hand fell on the spine of this book. It is a narrow spine, but the white letters on the red background are easy to see. I'm not sure, why, but I picked up the book. I opened it at random and found Judith Lowry's painting, "The Rescue," on page 30. I was hopelessly snared.

The painting depicts magical creatures, and their magic must be pretty potent, because they haunted me for three days before I finally gave in and bought the book. The art and the poems are wonderful, and I love the biographies and the photos of the contributors. California seems to be a land dominated by Disneyland, Silicon Valley, and Anglo/Hispanic/Japanese culture, but it's a lot more complicated than that. This book illustrates that complexity. I'm glad I found it.