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A review by rebelbelle13
The Beadworkers: Stories by Beth Piatote
4.0
"I think I would give up my fridge magnet of Planet Earth, every glimpse of snowy mountain folds from the window of a plane, the glittering view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower on New Year's Eve- I would give up all these things to see what our ancestors saw, to dream their vivid dreams, to come over a mountain with my mothers and sisters and suddenly see, in the wide open, an enormous blue meadow of blooming camas, an endless, unbroken field of periwinkle, lake, and lapis that today you could barely imagine, a land breathing and rolling with blue, a land so beautiful that you would wonder how to find your voice, find your offering, draw out a song on your breath and press the strength of your body to the earth, into the earth, into the deep wild blue." (Page 8)
The Beadworkers is a collection of tales based on the modern, urban, indigenous experience. They are all different and unconnected, but each have a mention or representation of beadwork within. One section is thoughts, another a story, another a play. They all have a hint of sadness, of loss, of searching for their past, their culture, of who they are and where they are going both as a people and as individuals. There's power in these pages, and you can feel that by reading it. My favorite in this collection was called Katydid. I really enjoyed reading about the connection between Ada and Roberta. I had some trouble following the play at the end, I'll admit, but I believe I got the gist of it. I'd recommend this collection to anyone who enjoyed There There by Tommy Orange. The stories feel similar, if unconnected to each other.
The Beadworkers is a collection of tales based on the modern, urban, indigenous experience. They are all different and unconnected, but each have a mention or representation of beadwork within. One section is thoughts, another a story, another a play. They all have a hint of sadness, of loss, of searching for their past, their culture, of who they are and where they are going both as a people and as individuals. There's power in these pages, and you can feel that by reading it. My favorite in this collection was called Katydid. I really enjoyed reading about the connection between Ada and Roberta. I had some trouble following the play at the end, I'll admit, but I believe I got the gist of it. I'd recommend this collection to anyone who enjoyed There There by Tommy Orange. The stories feel similar, if unconnected to each other.