A review by anishinaabekwereads
Savage Conversations by LeAnne Howe

5.0

A short, difficult poetic work of fiction presented as a play, Leanne Howe's Savage Conversations is a haunting exploration of American histories of exceptionalism. Minimal in its actors but full in its implications, this book has the weight of American history behind it. The conversations between Mary Todd Lincoln and the "Savage Indian," an executed Dakota man, are heavy with reference to the First Lady's personal life, the life of the nation, and the recurring presence of a violent past. I could go on and on about my own interpretations, but the strength in this book is that it requires the work of each reader to understand precisely what is being shared. As is stated so eloquently in Susan Power's introduction, "Being Native American in this country means often having a very different take on American history and historic figures generally accepted as national heroes. Just because they're your heroes doesn't make them automatically ours..."(vii). Much as Mary Todd Lincoln experienced throughout this book, being forced to look at the past from another perspective can seem maddening but it is only through such forced examination that we can understand our present and a different set of futures.