books/projects
by antoinette nora claypoole
who would unbraid her hair: the legend of annie mae (1999, Anam Cara Press, dist. Clear Light Books)
book for Anna Mae Pictou Aquashclick here for info and excerpts
coming soonla Puerta, Taosthe art of fetching sky
(click on image to view excerpts)
Wild Embers Press, yum click here
SEPT 2006 update on Anna Mae Aquash/John Graham click here
contact info: antoinette nora claypoole po box 3026ashland, or. 97520watersongs@gmail.com past work:
Rivers In Her Eyes (pub. Feb. 2006)
new book, limited edition
historical fiction regarding forced relocation near Big Mtn, Az.
from John Graham Blog
1. "The Place Where Spirits are Eaten"Feb. 24, 2005."I try to see Annie Mae stubbing her toe and getting pissed off. As her niece April Maloney explained was her final memory of her auntie. I try to imagine how a little girl felt to see the hands of her auntie floating in a jar of formaldehyde. And how scared she said she was. How scared everyone is. To hear the story of John Graham. And realize that he may just be person he says he is.As John Trudell says in a recent interview "once humans were part of the original dream. Now it has become a nightmare".
an overview/commentary of arrests in the murder of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash.
3. from Poets Against the War...poem written in Taos, N.M. Spring 2003. "Trail to Blue Lake"
5. "Sirens in the Night" one of the many chronicles/essays from the coverage of the Arlo Looking Cloud murder trial in Rapid City, S.Dakota. Coverage was done for KPFK Pacifica Radio Los Angeles, Feb. 20046.
Interview with Vernon Bellecourt, founder of the American Indian Movement. Bellecourt speaks openly about the murder of Annie Mae. Jan. 2001. Originally published in the Ojibway News. 7.
Interview with John Graham, accused murderer of Annie Mae. April 2004. 11. letter to the Editor of Buffalo News, Sept. 2004. From: "antoinette" <wildembers@earthlink.net>
Subject: FBI file release/Leonard Peltier
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 12:13:43 -0700
To the Editor of Buffalo News, Nearly 90 years ago my grandpa arrived in Buffalo, New York from Matera, Italia. He fought for the Allies in World War I and was given a free boat ticket to America for his service. When the war was over.
He was a tailor in a Buffalo shop that had one bare light bulb above his head.After eight years there he sent for my grandma back in Italy and they settled in Rochester.Where my mom was born. Where I was born in the 1950's. And so Buffalo was his landlocked harbor of love. The place where my grandpa, Antonio Marzano, was able to imagine life with his wife.
Buffalo is in my blood. It is why I am here. Even though I have long sinced moved to the West coast, left the Lake and my early relatives, and became involved in helping the American Indian Movement, I have never forgotten my roots. And how Buffalo took care of my grandpa. This is why I write to ask your city for help. With something close to my heart.
Please keep encouraging the FBI to release those files regarding Leonard Peltier AND all those impacted by the FBI holding of files. And thank you for all you have done already there at Buffalo News, to support this effort. The Peltier files need to be released. That all for which our ancestors worked and died will not be in vain.
The most proud aspect of my grandfather's arrival to America was that he was free. To pursue his dreams. This invincible aspect of our country must prevail. Despite corruption and fear which lead leaders to become tyrants. Our rights as Americans have been defended by many lives. We cannot let all their efforts die in vain.
Please Buffalo, help the FBI see that releasing those files regarding Leonard Peltier and the early days of the American Indian Movement is essential for America. Please help the FBI know that none of us wants to lose our rights to freedom. Those files are, under law, to be available to all of us. So that justice prevails in love of freedom, not fear or corruption.
Many thanks.
antoinette nora claypoole
odds and ends
