In this collection, American Indian poets offer profound insights into their perspectives on cancer, reflecting on its impact across the cancer control continuum. Their voices, submitted through a call from the University of Nebraska Medical Center Youth Enjoy Science (UNMC-YES) program, illuminate the cultural, spiritual, and emotional dimensions of cancer, from etiology to palliative care. Through their evocative verses, the poets confront taboos, convey the complexities of the disease, and celebrate the resilience of their communities. These poems not only honor Indigenous knowledge and storytelling traditions but also serve as a source of inspiration and hope for those impacted by cancer, elevating the voices of American Indians in addressing cancer disparities.
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American Indian Understandings of Cancer through Poetry is a powerful and much-needed collection that reflects the living experiences of Native Americans. In it, poetry blends with questioning, grief, hope, resilience, and cultural Knowledges. These are the voices we don't often hear: the voices of those experiencing cancer; the voices of those who are Indigenous. These are the voices we need to hear, for many reasons including, as Louis G. Whitehead (Anishinaabe/Haudenosaunee) writes, "In sharing these gifts and helping others heal/ We are healed ourselves and find a new place in the circle."
Michele Marie Desmarais (Owlmouth, Finishing Line Press)
This poetry collection opens a window into Indigenous poets' stories of cancer in the context of their Native American beliefs and world views, with implications across the spectrum of care that are compelling, full of meaning, and implicit knowledge. In richly human terms the poets speak of the journey of life, it's joys and pains, hope and anguish, heartache and sorrow, and most importantly, their inheritance of familial traditions, rituals and spirituality.
Virginia Aita, BSN, MS, PhD
