Do Drums Beat There [Paperback]

Doe Tabor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

In this novel by Doe Tabor, a fifteen year old Lakota girl must leave her homeland after a brutal episode with the Tribal police. Follow Ritta's journey from the reservation to the red power movement and to a new understanding of what it means to be a woman and an Indian.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Remarkable for its sense of passion and justice, the physical world of South Dakota is vividly rendered through her portrait of vulnerable, but strong, Ritta. There is an important historical story to be told as well, of the women who played such a pivotal role in the Indian political struggles of the late sixties and early seventies. --Barbara Wilson

About the Author

Doe Tabor grew up in Montana and Wyoming. She now lives in Oregon and studies at the University of Oregon. She received the 1998 award of the Emerging Writers Fellowship in Fiction from Literary Arts, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: New Victoria Publishers (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892281090
• ISBN-13: 978-1892281098
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,261,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hear the song., May 4, 2001

By 

Kathryn E. Berger (Bellingham, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Do Drums Beat There (Paperback)

Set in the late '60s, this book mixes hippie, Native American, lesbian and San Franscisco cultures. An old school bus of hippies rescue a teenage Native American girl, Ritta. The victim of brutality by the reservation police, Ritta must escape South Dakota and Montana to avoid further persecution by the police. She is picked up by the bus load of hippies and while on the road trip, explores her first sexual longings. There are feelings for River, the nice man who saved her, but amazing longings for Mazie, a black woman. Overloaded with culture shock and new feelings, Ritta makes her own personal journey as the group travels across country to San Francisco.

In San Francisco Ritta becomes involved in the group of Native Americans who occupied Alcatraz under the claim it was surplus land that by treaty should be returned to Native people. With her three legged wonder-dog Patches, she explores the city, politics, the sexual revolution, crime and cultural issues. She encounters her first drag queen, becomes a political activist and experiences the joy of another woman.

The book is a good read. There is a wide cast of interesting characters and social issues. The rate of maturation -- changing from naive reservation girl to participant in San Francisco counterculture is accelerated beyond a 16 year-old's developmental capabilities, but the reader can easily suspend any disbelief. This is a fine book by a talented young writer and an important reminder about a time and issues which still shape our lives.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing like it, February 8, 2001

By 

Heather Klenow (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Do Drums Beat There (Paperback)

From the minute I bought this book I couldn't put it down. This sounds like a cliche but it's the truth. This is the first book I have seen that addresses lesbianism and native american issues in the same pages. It is tragic, it is hope, it is activism, and it is oppression. No matter what your reading pleasures may be this book is a short tale with many twists that we can all relate to.