Book Review: Anishinaabe Songs for a New Millennium

Author Marcie R. Rendon

Ancestral dreams in Turtle Island are paramount in the melodious poem songs and dream songs in Marcie R. Rendon’s poetry collection, “Anishinaabe Songs for the Millennium.” A White Earth Ojibwe, Rendon composed new works from the ancient songs of the Ojibwe, short poem songs inscribed on birch bark. The poet credits the influential works of Ojibwe author Gerald Vizenor for inspiring her own writing style. Rendon’s powerful poems speak layers of truth about the Ojibwe people's remarkable resilience in surviving the violence of colonization, caring for the land, and kindling the wishes and prayers of generations yet to come, a testament to their collective strength and endurance.

Poetry thrives in brevity and economy. Rendon’s poems honor both the modern craft and the lyrical traditions of her people. While I appreciated learning about the origin of the form, what was most powerful for me was understanding how the Ojibwe received stories in their dreams. Rendon’s dream songs, with their profound expressions of hope and aspiration, not only inspire a sense of optimism for enveloping future generations in flourishing and tenderness, but also serve as a beacon of hope, a testament to the enduring power of the Ojibwe culture. Amid the reality of marginalization and erasure, the visions of Ojibwe grandmothers persist, enlightening us about the rich cultural heritage of the Ojibwe.

1. call the winds of healing sing your grief into being
2. call the winds of grief sing your healing into being

In my own decolonial journey of divesting from patriarchal colonial structures, I am drawn to centering the natural world and feminine power in envisioning a thriving society. While Ojibwe culture was not matriarchal, mothers and grandmothers tending the land undoubtedly nurtured dreams of thriving. A dream song that begins with "woman / you are strength" ends with the following lines of affirmation and empowerment.

you are 

the keeper 

of a nation 

yet to be born

As in dream states, time is fluid and non-linear. The collection includes one particularly powerful poem followed by a narrative in which Rendon shares how, in some accounts of Columbus’ first encounters with native peoples, the infamous colonizer called them “children of God,” thus creating the term “Indios.” This story is a departure from popular versions of the origin of the word as it applies to Indigenous communities. I come from a people also labeled Indios by the Spanish, as the colonial power enacted an ethnic and cultural caste system designed to divide and conquer. Reclamation of the word “Indios” seems aptly placed in a collection of poem songs evoking what lies ahead for Indigenous communities, a powerful act of empowerment and self-assertion.

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