We Became as Mountains: Poems of the Spanish Conquest

Nancy Wood’s WE CAME AS MOUNTAINS is a tour de force of narrative poetry. In the tradition of Stephen Vincent Benet and Derek Walcott, she tells the story of the Pueblo Indians from the time of creation to the building of the first atomic bomb. Influenced by thirty years of listening to the stories of tribal elders, Wood’s searing language and impeccable structure present a highly charged account of pain and triumph, of loss and survival. Written in four parts, WE CAME AS MOUNTAINS begins with a Puebloan creation myth. These haunting words lay the groundwork for all that follows the conquest and exploitation of the Indians by Europeans, Indian revolt, and, finally, the courage of the Pueblo people as they wait for their stories to come full circle. This powerful book is storytelling and mythmak