Description: "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." These words of Chief Joseph concluded a thousand-mile odyssey of 750 Nez Perce adults, children, and their elderly. Pursued by the US Army and Cavalry, the Nimiipuu fought battles, crossed the forbidding Bitterroot Mountains with their herds, and maintained their humanity and heritage against overwhelming odds. Bitterroot is dramatized history, giving voice to Joseph, Looking Glass, White Necklace, Half Man Half Woman, Howard "The Christian Soldier," Calamity Jane, and Yellowstone Kelley--providing a mirror with which to see ourselves today. It portrays a conflicted America: racism, religious intolerance, and greed at war with liberty and equality. Such an epic story reminds us of our common humanity. "It is for the young generation behind us," said Yellow Wolf. "I want the next generation of whites to know and treat the Indians as themselves."
Brief description:
Kent Gramm is the author of fifteen books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, including Nature's Bible: The Old Testament through the Eyes of Creation; November: Lincoln's Elegy at Gettysburg; Bitterroot: An American Epic; Cars: A Romantic Manifesto; The Prayer of Jesus: A Reading of the Lord's Prayer; Somebody's Darling: Essays on the Civil War; Sharpsburg: A Civil War Narrative; Psalms for Skeptics; Psalms for the Poor; and Public Poems. Visit www.kentgramm.com for descriptions and more information.
Review Quotes: "Kent Gramm's November braided history, spirituality, and memoir in writing that was haunting, moving, and lyrical. In Bitterroot, Gramm writes as an epic chronicler of the Nimiipuu--the Nez Perce--in their desperate struggle for freedom. Combining history, poetry, and lively character sketches, Gramm provides readers a memorable, sobering tale of the horrors of American racial division, even while celebrating love, mercy, and courage."
--Richard Schwartz, author The Prairies on Fire: Lincoln Debates Douglas, 1858
"Kent Gramm's Bitterroot is an enthralling read. This is no heroic tale of how the West was won, but an epic story of the Nez Perce Indians fighting for their existence against a remorseless United States cavalry. Gramm puts the reader in the shoes of a wide range of historical actors. We see and feel the world as they experienced it and come away with a deeper understanding of their tragic mistakes that continue to haunt us as a nation."
--Peter S. Carmichael, author of The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies