Red Earth: A Vietnam Warrior's Journey (Earthworks Series) [Paperback]

Philip H. Red Eagle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 1844712680 | ISBN-13: 978-1844712687

"In the late summer of 1990 I fell into depression. By the time the Gulf War broke out, in the winter of 1991, I was well on my way to a breakdown. By the summer, with the help of my buddy Ed Orr, I was in a therapy program at the Vets Center in uptown Seattle." Red Eagle's extraordinary book deals directly with Native American experience of the Vietnam war and offers a healing and redemptive force in the face of violence and its aftermath.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In the two novellas included within this book (Red Earth and Bois de Sioux), the author explores the Native American experience of Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome. His protagonists use mystical ceremonies that have been passed on from their grandfathers in order to relive the situations that have thrown them out of balance with the world. In the first story, Raymond Crow-Belt travels back into time to prevent an ambush of his squad, and in the second, Clifford Goes-First travels back to inhabit the body of a fallen comrade in order to prevent an atrocity. In the act of healing themselves, the characters also save a larger circle of humanity. Time and reality are not linear concepts within these works: past, present, and future fluidly shift around each other. This is the first work published by Red Eagle, and he presents a unique new voice to the genre. Eric Robbins --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Philip H. Red Eagle was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1945 and moved to Sitka, Alaska, when he was 14 years old. He received his high school diploma from Sitka Senior High School on 18 May 1963. He was in and out of college for four years, finally enlisting in 1967. After one WesPac tour on the USS Somers, DDG-34 in 1969-70, he made his next tour "In-Country" as a riverboat mechanic from August 1970 to January 1972. It is the observations and feelings from this tour that make up the background of his short stories. Red Earth is his first effort.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Salt Publishing (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844712680
• ISBN-13: 978-1844712687
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A healing book for the entire nation, October 29, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Earth: A Vietnam Warrior's Journey (Paperback)

Red Earth provides healing for those people who have experienced war firsthand, and for those people who have felt the impact of war indirectly through their friends and loved ones. Stories are intended to heal and provide guidance--a purpose that has been mostly forgotten by modern society. Indigenous people realize the importance of the story, and this book emphasizes this importance. Philip Red Eagle's book is a welcome and needed addition to the broad spectrum of Vietnam War literature.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderful book, June 5, 2000

By 

LaLoren - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Earth: A Vietnam Warrior's Journey (Paperback)

There's been a lot written about Vietnam vets and post traumatic stress, but I've never read any author who portrays the pain and anguish as well as Red Eagle. Then he portrays the healing. But to understand it you must enter a different skin. The skin of a people not held to standard conventions; where time has a different meaning and visions and dreams are an important part of life. I have never read an author who managed to accomplish this, but Red Eagle does. Even Alexie, an author I greatly admire, still leaves the reader on the outside looking in. But with Red Eagle you are truly taken inside.

I am an avid reader who usually consumes one book after another. However, when I finished this book I couldn't start another one for a couple of days. It has that kind of effect on you.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars student favorite, December 6, 1999

By 

James Stripes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Earth: A Vietnam Warrior's Journey (Paperback)

I have taught this book alongside classic works of Native American (such as Leslie Silko's "Ceremony"), alongside exceptional works of Native philosophy (e.g. Vine Deloria's "Red Earth / White Lies") and alongside some of the most popular contemporary Native writing (Sherman Alexie, among others). Red Eagle's "Red Earth" holds its own in all these contexts, and has been the favorite of many students in my classes.

"Red Earth" is a magical pair of stories dealing with the trauma not only of Vietnam, but American colonialism.