«There Were Always the Stories. And They Weren't Just Stories, They Were Truth»

Memoria della terra e verità storica nella poesia di Joy Harjo

Abstract

How can memory be preserved when historical evidence is no longer there? Is it really possible to reconstruct a multi-layered history starting from a few remains left by a culture in danger of extinction? Do the red stones displayed in a souvenir shop really have “memory and power,” as Native American poet Joy Harjo believes in “New Orleans”?

By analyzing a selection of poems included in the collection Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: 50 Poems for 50 Years (2023), the essay explores the relation between individual memory, tribal stories, and contemporary challenges.

In traditional oral cultures, such as the Native American one, it is the art of telling stories that has the noble task of recovering, passing on, and preserving memory. In order to combat the cultural amnesia resulting from the annihilation and cultural alienation induced by colonialism and aggressive assimilative practices, it is towards the earth that one must turn. By listening to the stories contained in it, by amplifying them, and by passing them down to the next generation, Harjo recovers a memory buried in the bowels of the earth for millennia, while also interrupting and complementing official colonial historiography with alternative truths.

With the earth as its focus, in this essay I will explore the role played by individual and collective memory in Harjo’s poetry and more in general in contemporary Native American poetry.