West End Press
Publishing Voices
from the Margins
- NEW
- BOOKS
- ABOUT
These were the ones who stood in corners
for speaking Indian
until the government said it was okay.
Then they sang in Indian Clubs
and danced at pow-wows.
Joe Babes were given pernicious looks
by the cashier in the public school cafeteria
as they went through the line
because she thought they got
free meals from the
government.
Joe Babes
laughed too loud
and were easily angered
when they got drunk.
Joe Babes
were the ones that left the reservations
for the cities, for the schools, for the jobs.
We were the Joe Babes.
All of us.
—from “Joe Babes”
No Parole Today, Laura Tohe’s signature collection of poetry and prose, memorably records her experiences with boarding school life alongside those of her mother and grandmother.
She also writes of the joys and tragedies of growing up on and off the Reservation. While capable of radiating the beauty of the Diné (Navajo) tradition, Tohe also carries the memory of brutality and loss; she expresses indignation and gives voice to protest in the modern manner. The title poem refers to a prison break at New Mexico Penitentiary in 1980.
“Our stories are our lives. With no equivocation Laura Tohe asserts, ‘We are who we are.’ Tohe’s Indian boarding school experience is a vivid portrait of the U.S. government’s effort—and failure—to assimilate and eradicate Native American culture.”—Simon Ortiz
“The simple eloquence, the carefully crafted language, and the sharply focused emotion of these poems and prose pieces make this a minor classic that should be in every library”
— Joseph Bruchac
Laura Tohe was born on the Diné Reservation and entered boarding school in the late 1950s.
Aware from childhood of the bitter heritage of the boarding school system, she benefited from the wisdom of her mother and grandmother who had gone there before her.
She also developed a watchful attitude that is reflected in her later work.
A graduate of the University of New Mexico creative writing program, she teaches at Arizona State University.