Publisher Description

When Frank X Walker's compelling collection of personal poems was first released in 2004, it told the story of the infamous Lewis and Clark Expedition from the point of view of Clark's personal slave, York. The fictionalized poems in Buffalo Dance formed a narrative of York's inner and outer journey, before, during, and after the expedition
face=Calibri>– a journey from slavery to freedom, from the plantation to the great northwest, from servant to soul yearning to be free.

In this updated edition, Walker utilizes a blend of extensive historical research, interviews, transcribed oral histories from the Nez Perce reservation, art, and empathy to breathe new life into an important but overlooked historical figure. Featuring a new introduction, preface, and sixteen additional poems, this powerful work speaks to such topics as race, literacy, slavery, and Native Americans, while reawakening and reclaiming the lost "voice" of York.

Author Biography

Frank X Walker is the author of Black Box, Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York, and Affrilachia. The recipient of a 2005 Lannan Literary Fellowship, the Lillian Smith Book Award, and the Thomas D. Clark Award for Literary Excellence, Walker is Writer-in-Residence at Northern Kentucky University.

Table of Contents

Introduction Preface Acknowledgments Wind Talker Falls of the Ohio To Protect and Serve Work Ethic God's House Primer At Ease Sundays and Christmas Lie of Omission Calendar Her Current Medicine Men Spirit Mound Wasicum Sapa Winter Leaf Buffalo Dance A House is Not a Home No Offense Leading Men Domestique Work Song A Rock, a Fort, a Island Not the Only One Perfume Black Magic Sandstone Thighs Mouths and Waters Home, Home on the Range The Portage Sun Son Double Yolks Ornithologists Nigrathologists Swap Meet Promises Nomenclature Respect House Prosperity ...Another Man's Treasure Vision Quest Vision Quest II Ananse Mythology Traveling Men Earth Tones Sweat Lodge Doubt Cold Hearted Inhumane Cure for Homesickness Sad Eye Aurora Borealis Electorate Winter with Jonah Majesty Pomp's Tower The Little Sneeze York Haichu Private Lessons Pastry Chefs Solid Black Pure White Unravel Revisionist History Monticello Souvenir Just Rewards A Love Supreme Night Breaks, Freedom too Holy Water Ursa Major Cumulonimbus Birth Day About the Author

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