<< Back 7/10/02 Moore explores a less idyllic facet of Native American life By Kathryn Cooper Red Woman With Backward Eyes and Other Stories by MariJo Moore. Renegade Planets Publishing, 2001. $13 — 496 pp. In her new book, Red Woman With Backward Eyes and Other Stories, Cherokee author MariJo Moore has successfully woven the metaphors of traditional storytelling with the harsh, sometimes grim realities of present-day Native American society. Her finely crafted, double-weave writing has as its strength multi-dimensional characters with hopeful yet pragmatic understandings of the challenges facing today’s indigenous peoples. Unlike other writers inside and outside the Indian community — who seem predisposed to retreat to the past in order to give the reader a romanticized view of Indian life — Moore confronts the very real social issues of alcohol abuse and familial dysfunction as it relates to the poverty with which many present-day Native Americans must deal. Most of the 11 short stories included in the collection have a first person spiritual connection to the characters in conflict. It is as if Moore has reached inward into her own personal experiences and gathered us to her storytelling table. This candid look is expressed to us through the eyes of the characters Moore has created and given voice to in such stories as “Siren’s Voices,” “Old Tsa Tsi,” “Rumors,” “Suda Cornsilk’s Gathering,” as well as “Red Woman With Backward Eyes,” which also serves as the title of the collection. The way in which the author leads us through the sometimes painful, sometimes humorous experiences of the characters is a pleasant reminder of Moore’s poetic abilities. The author has presented us with an opportunity to receive a teaching gift rich in the Cherokee language and yet often tragic in the cultural complexities of its subject matter. The author herself suggests this in her introduction when she writes that these stories are “medicine sometimes strong in the healing ... sometimes gentle.” This dichotomy of character complexities is further exposed in the story, “Sweet Voices Among Sour Souls.” The author speaks through the personage of Singing Martha, whose voice takes us to the confines of a women’s prison located in Raleigh. Here we are shown the cleansing power of song as prayer. Singing Martha, often feared and always misunderstood, is classified as crazy by the other inmates because of her inability to conform to the cultural expectations of those surrounding her. It is this inability to understand that forces the character to seek comfort from the only source that is left — her songs. Like the prayer songs of Singing Martha, the story of “Howanetta and the Eyes of the Dead” is yet another cultural expression of metaphorical reverence. The opening line, “There are some who are never able to leave the shadow of responsibility,” invites the reader to move away from the expected conformity and step into “the place where hummingbirds and cacti hold tiny hands and speak of their similarities.” It is the understanding of these similarities that Moore gives to those of us who by reading this book find ourselves seated at the storytelling table of this very talented author. (Kathryn Cooper, Cherokee, is a free-lance writer living in Raleigh. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including Feeding The Ancient Fires; A Collection of Writings by N.C. American Indians, The Raleigh News and Observer, Frontiers Journal, New Life Journal, and News From Indian Country.)