ALL MY RELATIONS: An Anthology of Contemporary...

ALL MY RELATIONS: An Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Native Fiction edited by Thomas King (University of Oklahoma Press: $12.95; 220 pp., paperback original). Some of the most interesting stories in this anthology explore the links between everyday life and older tribal beliefs. Shirley Bruised Head describes an apparently ordinary day in western North America in “An Afternoon in Bright Sunlight,” then reveals that the deceptive peace of the landscape is maintained through the power of an aging shaman. Other authors focus on people struggling to maintain their identity as they battle alcoholism and the disintegration of their traditional cultures. In “Compatriots,” Emma Lee Warrior draws a stinging portrait of patronizing whites who treat Amerindian civilization as a New Age tourist attraction.