{"product_id":"songs-blood-deep-gwen-nell-westerman-9781737405146","title":"Songs, Blood Deep","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e*FINALIST, 2024 Minnesota Book Awards\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"The poems are quiet and powerful, understated and deeply moving.\"--Carter Revard, author of \u003ci\u003eHow the Songs Come Down: New \u0026amp; Selected Poems\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat flows deep from the heart songs of\u003cbr\u003ethese poems is Gwen Westerman's proud and profound engagement with and\u003cbr\u003etransmission of closely held cultural values of the Dakota people.\u003cbr\u003eOriginating from the prairies of the Great Plains, this is a\u003cbr\u003ecollection that affirms a passion for family, community, and the\u003cbr\u003eenvironment. Westerman draws upon both English and the Dakota\u003cbr\u003elanguage to celebrate the survival of her people and articulate the\u003cbr\u003econflicts of the past and present, so that an enriched future will\u003cbr\u003eendure. The long opening poem reclaims the Mississippi River as a sacred resource, \"In the beginning\/\u003ci\u003ede Dakota Makoce\/\u003c\/i\u003ethis was a Dakota place.\/The water was pure.\" Historical\u003cbr\u003emisinformation about the First Peoples is unmasked, the record set\u003cbr\u003estraight apart from how explorers and conquering armies have wrongly\u003cbr\u003eportrayed the past. Herein life-affirming words are\u003cbr\u003econveyed from grandmother, to mother, to children and offered as a\u003cbr\u003egift to the reader, \"This is my give-away--to touch what is good in you\/with words your heart can hear.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gwen Nell Westerman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1737405148\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781737405146\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Holy Cow Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/03\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 82\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.80h x 5.80w x 0.40d","brand":"Gwen Nell Westerman","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43945895624959,"sku":"9781737405146","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_a543cdf0-d5e7-4efd-a093-7f24631e8897.jpg?v=1681510373","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/songs-blood-deep-gwen-nell-westerman-9781737405146","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}