Monthly Archives: May 2020

The Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies (CAIRNS), located in the Pine Ridge Reservation, has recently been gifted Survival Songs, a collection of over 40 poems by Lydia Whirlwind Soldier. The poet has offered the book to CAIRNS in support of the work they do, especially in the field of education related to American Indians. 

Kimberly Blaeser, author of Copper Yearning, and Wisconsin Poet Laureate 2015-16, writes that “Lydia Whirlwind Soldier’s Survival Songs opens and closes with echoes, reminding the reader of the whisper of ageless prairie grasses and all that is left in the wind. Filled with remembrances of family and with the voices of Lakota history, Whirlwind Soldier’s book becomes a strong heart song for survivors of boarding schools, federal mandates, the shadows of war, and ghosts everywhere. It weaves together an intimate knowledge of the landscape with traditional stories, showing through the craft of poetry their conjoined reality. She invites us into her homeland – an island of refuge in an alien world where eagles’ shrill cries still resound, sacred like Sundance whistles.”

Craig Howe (Lakota), who is the director of CAIRNS, writes, “Thank You, Lydia! Special thanks also to Charles Woodard, CAIRNS board member, for his careful and insightful editing of the book.”

Survival Songs is available on the CAIRNS website by clicking here.

Please purchase a copy today, and help support CAIRNS!

Here is a direct link to the Books page of the CAIRNS Educational Resources section: https://www.nativecairns.org/CAIRNS/Books.html