RANT RAVE REVIEW | Philip H. Red Eagle's RED EARTH by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

JULY 1997
T H E RAVEN C H R O N I C L E S

`RANT RAVE REVIEW`

Red Eearth-Rewriting The Wrong

A review of
Philip H. Red Eagle's RED EARTH

Holy Cow ! Press, June 1997, $12.95

Reviewed by

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

According to psychological studies, anywhere from sixty to ninety percent of Native American males in the eligible age group volunteered for the military during the Vietnam War. Most of these men, whether voluntarily or otherwise, saw combat and anywhere between twenty eight to forty six percent of them have experienced post traumatic stress disorder. To the best of my knowledge, only one of these men has written a book about it and that man is Philip H. Red Eagle.

For that reason alone, the book ought to be on the shelf of every vet counselor and public health psychologist dealing with Native American populations in the country.

If that was as far as it went, Red Earth would be a valuable book to that limited readership.

However, Red Earth is far more valuable to a much wider audience than that for far more important reasons.

Quite simply, the two novellas, Red Earth and BOIS DE SIOUX, are among the most devastatingly moving literature written about the Vietnam veteran's combat experience and excruciating homecoming.

While these stories speak particularly to Native American experience, both in urban and reservation situations, other veterans can readily identify with the characters and experiences of the protagonists.

The similarity between the novellas, other than that all of the protagonists are Native American warriors involved in Vietnam and the aftermath, is that Raymond Crow-Belt, in Red Earth, and Clifford Goes-First, in BOIS DE SIOUX, both have loving, magical, traditional grandfathers. Both grandfathers are able to use supernatural powers involving elementally-charged journeys through time and space to help their grandsons through Nam and the aftermath.

Even magic doesn't have the power to diminish the horrors of the war, but in Red Earth, Raymond's grandfather helps him ultimately to choose a path that will lessen the damage. While he's not able to change very much, he gains the power to do the best that one person can for the others within his circle. He also gains further knowledge of a critical positive relationship that had been hidden from him until then.

One of the things I liked best about Red Earth was the inclusion in this story of women and their effect on men at war. The unfaithful girlfriend of Raymond's buddy, Martinez, sends a Dear John letter that inflicts a mortal wound. This is not a cliché', but a testament to the fragility of the human spirit deprived of access to love or tenderness.

Phuong, the VC bar girl who reminds Raymond of the dark-eyed Red Earth Girls of Oklahoma, reminds him that these people he fights are in much the same position of his own people when they faced the wasicu at Wounded Knee and countless other massacres and battles.

And the nurse, Annabelle, is one of his own, voluntarily undergoing her own painful trials to make his less painful. She says she does this to care for her own men, who might be forgotten because they are Indian. Though most of the nurses I knew [in Vietnam] felt that any of our GI patients (and in my case, a lot of my Vietnamese ones as well) were our own kind and cared for them accordingly, it was not much of a stretch to identify with Anna's fiercely protective feelings.

It was a little difficult to continue on to BOIS DE SIOUX. I didn't see how Red Eagle could possibly say anything more eloquent about Nam than Red Earth. And my review copy was missing four pages between page 93 and 98. However, if the characters could time travel, I could skip a few pages, and I did and fell headlong into the stories of Clifford Goes-First and his friend James (Stoney) Hailstone. Clifford is the hero at first, the old guy who takes care of the FNG (F-king New Guy, the greenhorn kid who often gets older hands killed) Hailstone. Like the author, Hailstone is half Dakota and half Salish, brought up in Tacoma with little knowledge of his heritage on either side. Clifford teaches Stoney some of the knowledge Grandpa Goes-First imparted to him, as well as how to survive in the jungle when facing Chuck (the VC).

When the men go back to the World, however, it is Stoney who tries to help his hero and mentor survive. Stoney faces the riddle of why someone so strong, quick, wise and graceful in Nam quickly deteriorates into a drunken old man when he comes home. He believes that for Clifford the answer lies in Clifford's killing of Vietnamese women and children. Even Clifford's grandfather's magic cannot reach the grandson who has injured his own spirit by committing acts so abhorrent to it. So Stoney inherits the Grandfather's knowledge of the waters of the earth and in this way makes better sense of his and Clifford's war.

BOIS DE SIOUX tells eloquently of the feelings of helplessness casually labelled "survivor guilt." More, it tells of another layer veterans and veteran counselors have experienced all too frequently. Over twice the number of men who died in combat in Vietnam have since killed themselves here at home. BOIS DE SIOUX tells of the traumatic amputation of watching someone who shares your soul be severed from theirs. It shows how this cannot be stopped no matter what you do, how hard you try, how fast you talk, how much you hope or wish or pray. And you may come to see how for some it might have been safer, after all, to go back in the water.

Red Earth is as close to going back in the water as I ever want to get. But it was well worth it. For any vet, or anyone who loves a vet to any degree, or for anyone thinking of joining the military, if you want to learn more about what war in general and Vietnam in particular does to human beings, read this book. For a Native American vet or anyone who loves a Native American vet to any degree, or for any young person thinking of joining the military, this book is one to read and keep with the special care reserved for things of truth and power.

© The Raven Chronicles 1997

	JULY 1997		T H E RAVEN C H R O N I C L E S

	`RANT RAVE REVIEW`		Red Eearth-Rewriting The Wrong A review of Philip H. Red Eagle's RED EARTH Holy Cow ! Press, June 1997, $12.95 Reviewed by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough According to psychological studies, anywhere from sixty to ninety percent of Native American males in the eligible age group volunteered for the military during the Vietnam War. Most of these men, whether voluntarily or otherwise, saw combat and anywhere between twenty eight to forty six percent of them have experienced post traumatic stress disorder. To the best of my knowledge, only one of these men has written a book about it and that man is Philip H. Red Eagle. For that reason alone, the book ought to be on the shelf of every vet counselor and public health psychologist dealing with Native American populations in the country. If that was as far as it went, Red Earth would be a valuable book to that limited readership. However, Red Earth is far more valuable to a much wider audience than that for far more important reasons. Quite simply, the two novellas, Red Earth and BOIS DE SIOUX, are among the most devastatingly moving literature written about the Vietnam veteran's combat experience and excruciating homecoming. While these stories speak particularly to Native American experience, both in urban and reservation situations, other veterans can readily identify with the characters and experiences of the protagonists. The similarity between the novellas, other than that all of the protagonists are Native American warriors involved in Vietnam and the aftermath, is that Raymond Crow-Belt, in Red Earth, and Clifford Goes-First, in BOIS DE SIOUX, both have loving, magical, traditional grandfathers. Both grandfathers are able to use supernatural powers involving elementally-charged journeys through time and space to help their grandsons through Nam and the aftermath. Even magic doesn't have the power to diminish the horrors of the war, but in Red Earth, Raymond's grandfather helps him ultimately to choose a path that will lessen the damage. While he's not able to change very much, he gains the power to do the best that one person can for the others within his circle. He also gains further knowledge of a critical positive relationship that had been hidden from him until then. One of the things I liked best about Red Earth was the inclusion in this story of women and their effect on men at war. The unfaithful girlfriend of Raymond's buddy, Martinez, sends a Dear John letter that inflicts a mortal wound. This is not a cliché', but a testament to the fragility of the human spirit deprived of access to love or tenderness. Phuong, the VC bar girl who reminds Raymond of the dark-eyed Red Earth Girls of Oklahoma, reminds him that these people he fights are in much the same position of his own people when they faced the wasicu at Wounded Knee and countless other massacres and battles. And the nurse, Annabelle, is one of his own, voluntarily undergoing her own painful trials to make his less painful. She says she does this to care for her own men, who might be forgotten because they are Indian. Though most of the nurses I knew [in Vietnam] felt that any of our GI patients (and in my case, a lot of my Vietnamese ones as well) were our own kind and cared for them accordingly, it was not much of a stretch to identify with Anna's fiercely protective feelings. It was a little difficult to continue on to BOIS DE SIOUX. I didn't see how Red Eagle could possibly say anything more eloquent about Nam than Red Earth. And my review copy was missing four pages between page 93 and 98. However, if the characters could time travel, I could skip a few pages, and I did and fell headlong into the stories of Clifford Goes-First and his friend James (Stoney) Hailstone. Clifford is the hero at first, the old guy who takes care of the FNG (F-king New Guy, the greenhorn kid who often gets older hands killed) Hailstone. Like the author, Hailstone is half Dakota and half Salish, brought up in Tacoma with little knowledge of his heritage on either side. Clifford teaches Stoney some of the knowledge Grandpa Goes-First imparted to him, as well as how to survive in the jungle when facing Chuck (the VC). When the men go back to the World, however, it is Stoney who tries to help his hero and mentor survive. Stoney faces the riddle of why someone so strong, quick, wise and graceful in Nam quickly deteriorates into a drunken old man when he comes home. He believes that for Clifford the answer lies in Clifford's killing of Vietnamese women and children. Even Clifford's grandfather's magic cannot reach the grandson who has injured his own spirit by committing acts so abhorrent to it. So Stoney inherits the Grandfather's knowledge of the waters of the earth and in this way makes better sense of his and Clifford's war. BOIS DE SIOUX tells eloquently of the feelings of helplessness casually labelled "survivor guilt." More, it tells of another layer veterans and veteran counselors have experienced all too frequently. Over twice the number of men who died in combat in Vietnam have since killed themselves here at home. BOIS DE SIOUX tells of the traumatic amputation of watching someone who shares your soul be severed from theirs. It shows how this cannot be stopped no matter what you do, how hard you try, how fast you talk, how much you hope or wish or pray. And you may come to see how for some it might have been safer, after all, to go back in the water. Red Earth is as close to going back in the water as I ever want to get. But it was well worth it. For any vet, or anyone who loves a vet to any degree, or for anyone thinking of joining the military, if you want to learn more about what war in general and Vietnam in particular does to human beings, read this book. For a Native American vet or anyone who loves a Native American vet to any degree, or for any young person thinking of joining the military, this book is one to read and keep with the special care reserved for things of truth and power.
			© The Raven Chronicles 1997