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Ray Young Bear

レイ・ヤング・ベア

Rei Yangu Bea

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1950-01-01 （Marshalltown, Iowa）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English, Meskwaki (Fox)
Residence History
Meskwaki Settlement, Tama County, Iowa → Marshalltown, Iowa

Career

Occupations
poet, novelist, creative writing instructor, cultural activist
Active Years
1968-
Influenced By
His maternal grandmother No-ko-me-sa, Robert Bly
Influenced
contemporary Native American poets

Education

Pomona College
Period: 1969-1971
Country: United States
Attended 1969–1971; attended readings by visiting poets
Luther College (Upward Bound)
Country: United States
Participated in Upward Bound program as a youth
University of Iowa
Country: United States
Details of attendance not specified
Grinnell College
Country: United States
Details of attendance not specified

Awards

Creative Writing Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
1976
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: 受賞
Honorary Doctorate in Letters from Luther College
1993
Organization: Luther College
Result: 授与
Ruth Suckow Award
1997
Work: Remnants of the First Earth
Organization: Ruth Suckow Award committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Grandmother

1975 Poetry

Early collection focused on his grandmother and tribal traditions, emphasizing the sound and interplay of Meskwaki and English.

grandmotherlanguagetraditionidentity

Winter of the Salamander

1980 Poetry

A collection that uses nature and seasons to portray tribal memory and individual loss.

naturememoryloss

The Invisible Musician

1990 Poetry

Explores cultural continuity and the problem of voice through musicality and poetic images.

musiccultural continuityvoice

Black Eagle Child

1992 Fiction / Novel

A novel following Edgar Bearchild that depicts youth, tribal memory, and cultural dislocation.

coming of agecultural dislocationidentity

Remnants of the First Earth

1996 Fiction / Poetic prose

A work blending past, present, and mythic imagination. Winner of the Ruth Suckow Award.

mythmemoryland

The Rock Island Hiking Club

2001 Poetry

Poems exploring nature, community, and individual relations.

naturecommunity

The Aura of the Blue Flower That is a Goddess

2001 Poetry

A collection dealing with symbolic imagery and spiritual themes.

symbolismspirituality

Bibliography

  • Grandmother (1975)
  • Winter of the Salamander (1980)
  • The Invisible Musician (1990)
  • Black Eagle Child (1992)
  • Remnants of the First Earth (1996)
  • The Rock Island Hiking Club (2001)
  • The Aura of the Blue Flower That is a Goddess (2001)
  • Poems and short pieces published in various magazines (e.g., The New Yorker, The American Poetry Review)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical, conversational stylecode-switching between English and Meskwakiexperimental crossing of poetry and prose
Recurring Motifs
grandmother's memorylanguage and lossland and tribal historyritual and music

Legacy

A writer who brought Meskwaki traditions and language into contemporary poetry and fiction. He addressed identity issues for both tribal and non-tribal audiences and became an important voice in Native American literature.

Quotes

  • "My grandmother was always giving me advice on how I should watch what I say, because she would say that the single word itself is very, very powerful."
    Source: Interview (Des Moines Register / Modern American Poetry, 1994) (1994)

Trivia

  • Raised with Meskwaki as his first language, taught by his grandmother.
  • Helped form the Woodland Drum Group in 1983 with family members to perform tribal songs and dances.
  • The Meskwaki Tribe uniquely purchased land privately in 1857 to form the Meskwaki Settlement.