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Swimming Upstream by Beth Brant Beth Brant is the daughter f a white mother (Irish Scts) and a Mhawk father. She grew up with her fathers family, n the Bay f Quinte Mhawk in near. Even in her child, she had experiences with racism because her mther's family refused t admit any link t Natives. Mst f her life she stayed in the border regin f near, Canada and Michigan, USA. She married at 17, and gave birth t three daughters. After she divorced her violent, alcoholic husband, she gt a jb t support her family through daily life.
She did not finish her education. At the age f 33, she came ut as a lesbian. In 1981 she began t write and publish anthologies n Native literature. Between 1989 and 1990 she lectured at the University f British Columbia, and in 1993 at the University f That.
She wrk's temporary as teacher fr creative writing and lives in Detroit, MI. Brant characterizes herself as a lesbian mother and grand mother, a Taurus, ascendant Script, a drug and a was f the working class. In 1984 and 1986 she was awarded the Creative Writing Award f the Michigan Council fr the Arts, in 1991 the National Endwment fr the Arts and 1992 the Canada Council Award in Creative Writing (Wikipedia). In her collection f short series called Fd and Spirits, writes the natural landscape in a very personal way within the lives f her characters. She uses a flying, conversational style t present wilderness as integrated, when within human tales f hme, hardship, lss, death, self-discovery, and healing.
The natural world, as written by Brant, seems t be given the rle f a character within her narrative where it exists as a source f power, wide and life. Brant has n academic degrees fact, she did nt complete high schl but she has had a tremendous education in living, writing, and reading. Her education has led her t frm creative writing workshops fr Indian when and Indian high schl students. Fr Brant, writing can be the act that frees Indian people frm institutionalized racism and the internalized self-hatred they have been taught t inflict n themselves. Indian writers are in a constant state f translatinfrm ral t written and it is this act f translation that gives such power t the wrk's f Indian artists.
Her wrk reflects the many identification that cme frm being Mhawk, and she feels that being a feminist is a natural reflection f her wn matrilineal and matriarchal heritage. Her story Swimming Upstream begins with the protagonist, Anna May, arriving at a me after driving and the highway fr several hur's, blevins t the familiar, autumn landscape f the Bruce Peninsula. She is in a state f proud grief. Anna May is morning the recent lss f her yung sn and has taken a battle f wine t the wilderness (fighting a constant, interior argument) t drink and t think after seven years f society. She is an impoverished was seeking space and cart.
Shipping and the rad at a place called Sale Falls she stumbles upn an unexpected scene: spawning same are working their way upstream frm Lake Here. Standing in the river n a flat slab f re, Anna May watches the struggling same in silence. Focusing n ne fish in particular, ne with a trn deal fin, she watches him attempt t cross the final barrier: Anna May peter her eyes and saw him, anther jump before being pushed back. She held her hands together, her by willing Trn Fin t me, t push, t jump, t fly! Her by red forward and back, her heart beating madly inside her chest. She red, she sorted, Make it, damn it, make it!
She red and whispered the name f her sn int the water, Sign, Sign. as if the very name f her sn was magic and could me the same t his final place Sign! Trn Fin slapped his tail ne last time and was get, the dark by swimming hme. She thughtshe thought she saw her sns face, his black hair streaming behind him, a lk f jy transfixed n his little face before the image disappeared. The protagonist and the reader are feed a serendipitous wilderness encounter that inspires each t pay attention t the surrounding nature, t lk, listen, smell, taste and tuch.
Interaction with the land all healing t begin and creates an awareness f a possible connection that remains undefined: a bnd that could be merely the prtagnist's imagination, but could transcend boundaries f self and ther and me been time and place. Brant has been a speaker and lecturer n Indian literature and against the appropriation by nn-Indians f Native belief systems and religions. She has written several essays n Native when wh are considered traits t their peplesuch as Pcahntas, Nancy Ward, and Malincheand has brought new understanding f the miles f these when. Grandmothers f a New World, ne such essay, has been widely reprinted in scholarly journal, Native magazines, and feminist anthologies. In addition t writing full-time, Brant has served as men t many emerging Native writers and has conducted writing workshops fr when in price. She is als an activist fr People with AIDS and has given AIDS education workshops in the Indian community.
She has lectured and given readings at many universities and Indian cultural centers, and has received grants frm the Michigan Council fr the Arts, the near Arts Council, My fr When, and the National Endwment fr the Arts.
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