I’ve always contended that any book that’s worth the sacrifice of paper will certainly offend someone so I’m not surprised that my Taken by the Shawnee, officially out in early June, has aroused some ire among a group of unidentified people who work at a big resort here. Garcia Street Books and I have been planning my reading there on June 9th for some time, only to hear a few days ago that this group is prohibiting it. Since I don’t believe they’ve read the novel—the pub date is still two weeks away—their objection seems to be based on the title or, maybe, the cover.
Book banners have been tightening their grip on schools, libraries and the reading public for some time now. Their argument seems to be that only a writer who belongs to her subject’s racial group can write about her subject in fiction or non-fiction. If we believe in the universal nature of key human feelings and experiences, even though deeply colored by culture, and if we believe in the power and even the sanctity of the creative imagination, we must do all we can to resist this stranglehold.
But it is also essential to avoid what I think is the real trespass: speaking in the voice of someone who must only speak for herself. (One of the well-known trespassers was Gertrude Stein in her Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas). By speaking in the voice, I mean not the literal voice but the imagination and the spirit: entering into areas from which our otherness prohibits us from going.
For my narrator and heroine, Margaret Erskine, her story begins with her ignorance of the Shawnee and her acceptance of the racial stereotypes—savages, etc.—of her time, the 1790s in colonial Virginia. During her difficult but immensely rewarding four years with the Shawnee, she gradually rid herself of these stereotypes, coming to know White Bark, Little Mouse and other members of this particular Shawnee band as individuals as complex and ultimately unknowable as everyone she had ever encountered. Learning to speak Shawnee was crucial, but also an open-mindedness that allowed her to experience even their most “foreign” practices—leading her into the wilderness alone to have her child—as part of her learning process. I hope my readers will follow the same curve from ignorance and bias to a nuanced appreciation of who these people we worked so hard to eradicate really were.
There is another issue that may be inspiring attacks on my book and many others, which is lack of access. To say that a Shawnee should tell my story makes perfect sense; but it is unlikely that any member of any tribe—except perhaps for those few teaching at well-known universities—could penetrate the fortress of New York publishing. Equally unlikely that any marginalized writer would have access to the graduate schools, programs, workshops and retreats that allow us to polish our skills and make vital social connections. And then there is the structure of racism that underlies it all.
I’m still hoping that the individuals who object to my book may in some form or another communicate with me. Otherwise I must be prepared for the kind of outbursts from an audience member that sometimes disrupts the presentation of books deemed controversial. I remember when John Demos’ The Unredeemed Captive, based on his research into a New England tribe, was denounced at his book event here; its literary quality and the scrupulousness of his research were left out of the equation.
So—be prepared.
[I’ll be reading at Garcia Street Books here in Santa Fe on June 9th, at 4:30pm. To RSVP, visit this link. My full reading schedule is available on my events page.]
Dee Brown’s _Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee_ was banned in 1974 by Wisconsin on the ground that it was “anti-American” and had excessive violent content. The Vietnam War finally ended the next year, perhaps in part because of that book.
Thank you Sallie. In this time where people appear to be afraid of the words themselves and not only if the person writing/speaking them is the RIGHT person: I applaud you. I have only visited Santa Fe for a short time in 1985. It seemed to be a cool place.
Will you be signing any other books that you have written? I may take a trip to Louisville and have The Blue Box signed. I live about 30 miles from Carmichael’s Books. I love buying cards at Carmichael’s. Enough from me except a boo and a hiss to any book banning!