Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women [Paperback]

Paula Gunn Allen (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 12, 1990

"Impressive....Haunting....Enchanting...Every story in the book, which covers nearly a century of tradition, is interesting, written with intelligent passion."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Native American scholar, literary critic, poet, and novelist Paula Gunn Allen, who is herself a Laguna Pueblo-Sioux Indian, became increasingly aware in her academic career that the writings of Native Americans, especially women, have been marginalized by the Western literary canon. Allen set out to understand why this was so and, more importantly, to remedy the situation. The result is this powerful collection of traditional tales, biographical writings, and contemporary short stories, many by the most accomplished Native American women writing today, including: Louise Erdrich, Mary TallMountain, Linda Hogan, and many others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 12, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044990508X
• ISBN-13: 978-0449905081
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #232,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Native American

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for classroom intro for Native American Lit, April 17, 2001

By 

S. Bates "Lovin' teaching" (Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women (Paperback)

What a great book. So many books that are available are on the stories of men (these are important too) but women are seldom heard from. We usually only hear of vision quests and warriors. This is a book that would introduce students to both sides of the story and the intro gives such insight to the Native American woman. Allen states the plights and goals of their women clearly and understandably. What is available in the canon is limited. This is a great book to lead into discussions and comparisons. It shows the otherside of stereotypes. It is interesting enough that students would not be bored. There are many selections that could be assigned and finished in one class period. A must for any language arts teacher or person interested in Native American lit- also great for a feminist point of view of another culture.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Collection of Stories, December 28, 2001

By 

Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women (Paperback)

"Spider Woman's Granddaughters" is a collection of traditional and modern short stories concerning Native American women. With the exception of the traditional stories and myths, Indian women wrote all of the stories. This was just one text out of many assigned for a class I took on Native American religion. At first glance I really didn't think this book would be very interesting. Most of the stories looked so short in length that I couldn't imagine they could convey anything of value. I was wrong. Most of the stories here are powerful evocations of Indian spirituality. A few are downright moving on an emotional level. The editor of this book wisely placed traditional stories before more modern stories that are based on that particular tradition or myth. This makes it much easier to understand the context for certain stories. Some stories lack a traditional base and deal with extremely modern issues such as homosexuality. In short, whatever type of story you may be looking for, you can probably find it in this book.

Arguably the best story in the book is "Grace," a moving tale about two Indian siblings adopted by a friendly Indian couple. The two children suffered terribly in an orphanage and don't know how to respond to the kindness they receive from the couple. The children are taught some things about their culture by the couple and begin to come around, but within a few months the father dies and the kids are sent back to the orphanage. A very moving story that is tough to read. This story alone is worth the price of the book.

Try to find this book if you're interested in Native American topics. I see Amazon has found some copies of the book recently. It was listed as out of print on Amazon for some time, but the copy I bought for class in the school bookstore was brand new. If you want to read this, you'll find a copy. Recommended (with conditions).

5 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good Stories...compiled by the queen of narcissism, January 5, 2006

By 

Tobi Rozen "Wild Iraqout" (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women (Paperback)

While the stories contained in this book are for the most part good (not bad, but nothing to write home about) the editor and compiler of this book, Paula Gunn Allen can be described in less flattering terms. In the introduction to this book, Allen discusses the tragic history of Native Americans, especially the savagness of the white men who were supposedly the brings of civilization.

This is all well and good...until Allen starts making up facts. For example, in one section of the introduction, she states that only a few decades ago (1924) Geronimo was being tortured in Georgia. However, Geronimo died in 1909...something that a professor of Native American studies should know about. This is just one example of the distortions and exaggerations Allen uses to prove her point.

If her complete disregard for solid facts doesn't turn you off, there is also Allen's blatent narcissism...in this book, which is supposed to show all of the best elements of Native American literature, she includes a story that she herself wrote. Even if her story was good enough to be included in this book (it was easily one of the worsts stories there), out of respect for the the authors that penned some of the book's other stories, she should have kept hers out.

While there are several good stories contained in this book, instead of buying it you should just try to find them from other sources; Allen's lack of legitimacy destorys whatever integrity this book may have had