Description

Spiderwoman’s Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women by Paula Gunn Allen (1990 ed.)

Spiderwoman’s Granddaughters is a powerful, multi‑voiced anthology bringing together traditional tales, biographical narratives, and contemporary short fiction by seventeen Native American women writers. Edited by renowned scholar Paula Gunn Allen, the collection draws from the enduring figure of Grandmother Spider, who—in Cherokee tradition—brought the light of thought and creativity to her people.

Spanning nearly a century of storytelling, these works explore themes of identity, community, survival, and cultural continuity, revealing the deep resilience of Indigenous women who have endured displacement, colonization, and systemic erasure. Divided into three sections—The Warriors, The Casualties, and The Resistance—the anthology highlights women’s bravery, the wounds of oppression, and the rise of Native empowerment across generations.

Featuring voices such as Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko, Linda Hogan, Pretty Shield, Anna Lee Walters, Elizabeth Cook‑Lynn, and many others, the collection honors Native storytelling traditions while illuminating contemporary struggles and triumphs.

A rich celebration of Indigenous womanhood, Spiderwoman’s Granddaughters is both a cultural testament and an invitation to witness the beauty, power, and endurance of Native stories.

Copyright: Originally published in 1989. This paperback by Ballantine Books in 1990 with cover art including “‘Intensely beautiful and poignant stories so lyrically rendered that when they are finished their spirits linger.’ – Los Angeles Times Book Review“.

Condition: Okay. Vintage.

U.S. media mail shipping included.

ISBN-10: 044990508X

ISBN-13: 9780449905081

Dewey Decimal: 810.8092