That the People Might Live: Native American Literatures and Native American Community

In this book Weaver looks at Native American literature in order to reflect on Native American values and spirituality. In 500 years of contact and colonization Christianity has been unable to displace traditional religious beliefs and practice, Weaver notes, and even among Indians who consider themselves Christian, traditional ways are often still important and honored. Many practise syncretism and religious dimorphism, religious pluralism that often produces communal tensions and misunderstandings that undermine the work of community organization. Weaver argues, however, that Native American literature speaks across these divisions and he offers a broad reading of several centuries of literature to develop the idea of "communitism"--a nexus of communal and communitarian values that is the bedrock of Native spirituality. His detailed analysis of a diverse set of writings--biographies, tribal histories, novels, plays, etc.--sheds fascinating light on an important and neglected aspect of American literature.