People in all cultures love to hear stories. In the Native American culture for centuries the stories have been mostly auditory. They have been passed down from one generation to the next. Today, we can be thankful that many are being written down, not only so that we can appreciate them, but so that future generations of Native American peoples can continue to enjoy the stories of their heritage. The stories are not only interesting, but they are full of details of the way the indigenous ancestors lived.
In this series on Native American Female authors, we have recounted the stories of authors Sarah Winnemucca, first US copyright recipient, Mourning Dove, first published novelist, and Joy Harjo, poet, as well as the story of another poet – Leslie Marmon Silko. We will complete this series on poets with the story of a great storyteller, Diane Glancy.
Diane Glancy (b. 1941, Cherokee) Storyteller, Poet, Movie Director
Helen Diane Hall was born to parents Lewis Hall (Cherokee) and Edith Wood Hall (English and German descent) in Kansas City, Missouri in 1941. She received her bachelor’s degree in 1964 from the University of Missouri. She completed her master’s degree in 1983 from Central State University.
Diane married Dwane Glancy in 1964, and they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. They had two children, David and Jennifer. She worked as artist-in-residence for the State Arts Council of Oklahoma. When her children had graduated from high school, she applied to the Iowa Writers Workship where she earned her Master of Fine Arts in 1988.
In 1989 she accepted a position at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She taught Native American literature and creative writing and is now its professor emeritus. In 2008-2009 Diane was the Visiting Richard Thomas Professor of Creative Writing at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. She was appointed Distinguished Professor at Azusa Pacific University in 2012.
Throughout the years, Diane’s writings have covered a wide range. She has written many award-winning poems including:
Capricorn Poetry Prize (1990) for Iron Woman
Minnesota Book Award (1991) for Lone Dog’s Winter Count
Juniper Prize for Poetry (2003) for Primer of the Obsolete
Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry
Her first collection of short fiction (Trigger Dance, 1990) won the Mildren P. Nilon Award for Minority Fiction.
Her novels include:
The Reason for Crows (2009), a story of Kateri Tekakwitha
Pushing the Bear: After the Trail of Tears (2009), which was a sequel to Pushing the Bear: a Novel of the 1838-1839 Cherokee Trail of Tears (1996).
Work as a playwright/film director:
Short films: Ride Between the Worlds and On the Shore of Their Country
Best Native American Film at the Trail Dance Festival (2011) for The Dome of Heaven
(A Preview of The Dome of Heaven, written by Daina Glancy can be viewed on YouTube.)
Words of My Roaring (2006) is one of her best-known plays.
The Bird House (2013)
Five Civilized Tribes Playwriting Laureate Prize
Non-fiction:
Freeing the First Amendment: Critical Perspectives on Freedom of Expression (1995)
Naming Myself: Writings on Identity (1995)
Other awards and recognition:
National Museum of the American Indian Expressive Arts Grant
Pushcart Prize
Two National Endowment of the Arts fellowships
Sundance Screenwriting Fellowship.
Cherokee Medal of Honor
Oklahoma Book Award
Diane Glancy has written many memorable works, and I hope you will go online and find them. I want to focus on one important one in this post.
Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the 1838-1839 Cherokee Trail of Tears (1996).
The forced migration of the Cherokee became known as The Trail of Tears (1838-1839). This was a result of President Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy. The Cherokee Nation was forcibly moved from their homeland east of the Mississippi to Oklahoma. It was called the Trail of Tears because Indians faced starvation, cold, disease, and exhaustion of the forced March. About one-fourth of the tribe died.
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 the United States territory was doubled in size. Americans were encouraged to move west and settle in the new lands. Much of this land was already populated by indigenous peoples. President Jefferson and others began to set aside land for the indigenous nations and move them there.
The Cherokee people had made great efforts to assimilate into European American culture. Many were converted to Christianity. They adopted western dress and gave up hunting and gathering for a market economy based on agriculture. In the 1820’s they adopted a written constitution. In spite of all of this, many Georgia residents wanted to expel them. The land was too valuable for growing cotton and prospecting. Gold was discovered on Cherokee land in 1829. Georgia’s government took over jurisdiction of the entire Cherokee land. They began distributing plots by lottery.
The Cherokee took their case to the United States Supreme Court. In 1832, Chief Justice John Marshall held that Georgia could not extend its law ove the sovereign lands of the Cherokee Nation. They had no right to displace the indigenous people.
Tragically, though the Cherokee had won this court case their efforts were overturned by President Andrew Jackson. Jackson pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress in 1830. The president could designate lands west of the Mississippi for tribal use. They negotiated treaties with the indigenous people to make sure they would move.
A treaty was concluded for the Cherokee Nation whereby they would swap their native homeland for territory further west. Federal Agents rounded them up in late 1837 and early 1838 and put them in detention camps in Tennessee and Alabama. They were confined in stockades until the summer of 1838 where many fell victim to diseases such as dysentery. The force march began in October under the watch of armed troops. The winter was bitter and cold. Some routes covered nearly 1000 miles. At every stop along these trails the Cherokee had to take time to bury their dead. The death toll reached nearly 4000 out of the 16,000 died from disease, malnutrition, freezing weather, and physical exhaustion.
Below is a depiction of the “Trail of Tears” created in 1942. If any depictions were created during the time of the march they have not survived.
Diane Glancy’s story weaves together the voices of several characters in this tale. The majority are Cherokee Indians, but some are missionaries and soldiers. She describes the horror and devastation to the tribe in their forced march through these various voices. For example, Maritole, the main character, is a mother, wife, daughter and aunt, is the main voice in her story. Maritole reveals the thoughts of the women and their relationships with the others. She tells of the losses along the trail and how it impacted the natives both physically and emotionally. The bitterness of the loss of their home is combined with a sense of helplessness during the march. Even marriage relationships are harmed from the stress. Burying children was devastating for everyone in the tribal community.
Readers have noted how Diane Glancy is proficient in so many genres. Her work is very creative in how it portrays her Cherokee and Christian heritage. She is familiar with history and religion and able to portray both new and old worlds and how Native traditions are affected by European/American traditions. While “The Reason for Crows” is about a Mohawk woman, it is nevertheless a good example of how she combines her Cherokee heritage and Christianity in her writing.
Diane has taught at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota for twenty years.
Native American Women Authors – Diane Glancy
They “walk to the beat of a different drummer” as they proclaim the Jesus Way (Christianity), while they also take pride in their Native American Indian identity.
People in all cultures love to hear stories. In the Native American culture for centuries the stories have been mostly auditory. They have been passed down from one generation to the next. Today, we can be thankful that many are being written down, not only so that we can appreciate them, but so that future generations of Native American peoples can continue to enjoy the stories of their heritage. The stories are not only interesting, but they are full of details of the way the indigenous ancestors lived.
In this series on Native American Female authors, we have recounted the stories of authors Sarah Winnemucca, first US copyright recipient, Mourning Dove, first published novelist, and Joy Harjo, poet, as well as the story of another poet – Leslie Marmon Silko. We will complete this series on poets with the story of a great storyteller, Diane Glancy.
Diane Glancy (b. 1941, Cherokee) Storyteller, Poet, Movie Director
Helen Diane Hall was born to parents Lewis Hall (Cherokee) and Edith Wood Hall (English and German descent) in Kansas City, Missouri in 1941. She received her bachelor’s degree in 1964 from the University of Missouri. She completed her master’s degree in 1983 from Central State University.
Diane married Dwane Glancy in 1964, and they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. They had two children, David and Jennifer. She worked as artist-in-residence for the State Arts Council of Oklahoma. When her children had graduated from high school, she applied to the Iowa Writers Workship where she earned her Master of Fine Arts in 1988.
In 1989 she accepted a position at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She taught Native American literature and creative writing and is now its professor emeritus. In 2008-2009 Diane was the Visiting Richard Thomas Professor of Creative Writing at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. She was appointed Distinguished Professor at Azusa Pacific University in 2012.
Throughout the years, Diane’s writings have covered a wide range. She has written many award-winning poems including:
Capricorn Poetry Prize (1990) for Iron Woman
Minnesota Book Award (1991) for Lone Dog’s Winter Count
Juniper Prize for Poetry (2003) for Primer of the Obsolete
Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry
Her first collection of short fiction (Trigger Dance, 1990) won the Mildren P. Nilon Award for Minority Fiction.
Her novels include:
The Reason for Crows (2009), a story of Kateri Tekakwitha
Pushing the Bear: After the Trail of Tears (2009), which was a sequel to Pushing the Bear: a Novel of the 1838-1839 Cherokee Trail of Tears (1996).
Work as a playwright/film director:
Short films: Ride Between the Worlds and On the Shore of Their Country
Best Native American Film at the Trail Dance Festival (2011) for The Dome of Heaven
(A Preview of The Dome of Heaven, written by Daina Glancy can be viewed on YouTube.)
Words of My Roaring (2006) is one of her best-known plays.
The Bird House (2013)
Five Civilized Tribes Playwriting Laureate Prize
Non-fiction:
Freeing the First Amendment: Critical Perspectives on Freedom of Expression (1995)
Naming Myself: Writings on Identity (1995)
Other awards and recognition:
National Museum of the American Indian Expressive Arts Grant
Pushcart Prize
Two National Endowment of the Arts fellowships
Sundance Screenwriting Fellowship.
Cherokee Medal of Honor
Oklahoma Book Award
Diane Glancy has written many memorable works, and I hope you will go online and find them. I want to focus on one important one in this post.
Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the 1838-1839 Cherokee Trail of Tears (1996).
The forced migration of the Cherokee became known as The Trail of Tears (1838-1839). This was a result of President Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy. The Cherokee Nation was forcibly moved from their homeland east of the Mississippi to Oklahoma. It was called the Trail of Tears because Indians faced starvation, cold, disease, and exhaustion of the forced March. About one-fourth of the tribe died.
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 the United States territory was doubled in size. Americans were encouraged to move west and settle in the new lands. Much of this land was already populated by indigenous peoples. President Jefferson and others began to set aside land for the indigenous nations and move them there.
The Cherokee people had made great efforts to assimilate into European American culture. Many were converted to Christianity. They adopted western dress and gave up hunting and gathering for a market economy based on agriculture. In the 1820’s they adopted a written constitution. In spite of all of this, many Georgia residents wanted to expel them. The land was too valuable for growing cotton and prospecting. Gold was discovered on Cherokee land in 1829. Georgia’s government took over jurisdiction of the entire Cherokee land. They began distributing plots by lottery.
The Cherokee took their case to the United States Supreme Court. In 1832, Chief Justice John Marshall held that Georgia could not extend its law ove the sovereign lands of the Cherokee Nation. They had no right to displace the indigenous people.
Tragically, though the Cherokee had won this court case their efforts were overturned by President Andrew Jackson. Jackson pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress in 1830. The president could designate lands west of the Mississippi for tribal use. They negotiated treaties with the indigenous people to make sure they would move.
A treaty was concluded for the Cherokee Nation whereby they would swap their native homeland for territory further west. Federal Agents rounded them up in late 1837 and early 1838 and put them in detention camps in Tennessee and Alabama. They were confined in stockades until the summer of 1838 where many fell victim to diseases such as dysentery. The force march began in October under the watch of armed troops. The winter was bitter and cold. Some routes covered nearly 1000 miles. At every stop along these trails the Cherokee had to take time to bury their dead. The death toll reached nearly 4000 out of the 16,000 died from disease, malnutrition, freezing weather, and physical exhaustion.
Below is a depiction of the “Trail of Tears” created in 1942. If any depictions were created during the time of the march they have not survived.
Diane Glancy’s story weaves together the voices of several characters in this tale. The majority are Cherokee Indians, but some are missionaries and soldiers. She describes the horror and devastation to the tribe in their forced march through these various voices. For example, Maritole, the main character, is a mother, wife, daughter and aunt, is the main voice in her story. Maritole reveals the thoughts of the women and their relationships with the others. She tells of the losses along the trail and how it impacted the natives both physically and emotionally. The bitterness of the loss of their home is combined with a sense of helplessness during the march. Even marriage relationships are harmed from the stress. Burying children was devastating for everyone in the tribal community.
Readers have noted how Diane Glancy is proficient in so many genres. Her work is very creative in how it portrays her Cherokee and Christian heritage. She is familiar with history and religion and able to portray both new and old worlds and how Native traditions are affected by European/American traditions. While “The Reason for Crows” is about a Mohawk woman, it is nevertheless a good example of how she combines her Cherokee heritage and Christianity in her writing.
Diane has taught at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota for twenty years.
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