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{{short description|Mohawk poet}}
⚫
'''Beth E. Brant''', [[Molly Brant|Degonwadonti]],<ref name=":0" /> or [[Molly Brant|Kaieneke'hak]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America.|last=Brownlie|first=Robin Jarvis|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=2004|isbn=0-684-31261-1|editor-last=Stein|editor-first=Marc|location=Detroit, MI|pages=165–166|chapter=Brant, Beth E}}</ref> was a [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] writer, essayist, and poet of the [[Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation|Bay of Quinte Mohawk]] from the [[Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory|Tyendinaga Mohawk Reserve]] in [[Tyendinaga, Ontario|Ontario]], Canada.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Contemporary American Ethnic Poets: Lives, Works, Sources|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2004|isbn=0-313-32484-0|editor-last=Cullum|editor-first=Linda|location=Westport, CT|pages=42–45|chapter=Beth Brant (aka Degonwadonti): (1941- ) American Indian (Bay of Quinte Mohawk)}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> She is, also, a lecturer, editor, and speaker. She wrote based on her deep connection to her indigenous people and touched on the infliction of racism and colonization.<ref name=":1" /> She brought her writing to life from her personal experiences of being a lesbian, having an abusive spouse, and her mixed blood heritage from having a [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] father and a Scottish-Irish mother.<ref name=":0" /> She has three books of essays and short stories and three edited anthologies published.
{{multiple|
{{Overly detailed|date=April 2024}}
{{One source|date=April 2024}}
}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Beth Brant
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1941|04|06}}
| birth_place = [[Detroit, Michigan]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|8|6|1941|04|06}}
| death_place = [[Melvindale, Michigan]]
|nationality = [[Mohawk nation|Mohawk]]<br>[[United States]]
|known_for = 6 publications based on experience with sexuality, abuse, growing up Native American, and Co-founding Turtle Grandmother manuscript publishing house
}}

⚫
'''Beth E. Brant''', Degonwadonti,<ref name=":0" /> or Kaieneke'hak<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America.|last=Brownlie|first=Robin Jarvis|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=2004|isbn=0-684-31261-1|editor-last=Stein|editor-first=Marc|location=Detroit, MI|pages=165–166|chapter=Brant, Beth E}}</ref> was a [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] writer, essayist, and poet of the [[Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation]] from the [[Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory]] in [[Tyendinaga, Ontario|Ontario]], Canada.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Contemporary American Ethnic Poets: Lives, Works, Sources|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2004|isbn=0-313-32484-0|editor-last=Cullum|editor-first=Linda|location=Westport, CT|pages=[https://archive.org/details/contemporaryamer0000unse/page/42 42–45]|chapter=Beth Brant (aka Degonwadonti): (1941- ) American Indian (Bay of Quinte Mohawk)|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/contemporaryamer0000unse/page/42}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> She was also a lecturer, editor, and speaker. She wrote based on her deep connection to her indigenous people and touched on the infliction of racism and colonization.<ref name=":1" /> She brought her writing to life from her personal experiences of being a [[lesbian]], having an abusive spouse, and her mixed blood heritage from having a [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] father and a Scottish-Irish mother.<ref name=":0" /> Her published works include three edited anthologies and three books of essays and short stories.


==Life==
==Life==
She was born in Detroit, Michigan on May 6, 1941.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Brant grew up off the reservation; however, she maintained a deep link to her [[Mohawk people|Tyndinaga Mohawk]] heritage with her paternal grandparents where she learned the culture, language, and traditional stories. She was descended from a family of tribal leaders [[Molly Brant]] and [[Joseph Brant|Chief Joseph Brant]] from the Tyndinaga Mohawk tribe.<ref name=":0" /> Her paternal grandparents moved to the Detroit area with the hope their nine children would have more opportunities away from the reservation. Her parents, Joseph and Hazel Brant and her brother and sister, grew up in her paternal grandparent's Detroit home.<ref name=":1" /> Her father worked in an automobile factory, and later as a teacher.
She was born in Detroit, Michigan on May 6, 1941.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Brant grew up off the reservation; however, she maintained a deep link to her Tyendinaga Mohawk heritage with her paternal grandparents where she learned the culture, language, and traditional stories. She was descended from a family of tribal leaders [[Joseph Brant|Chief Joseph Brant]] (Thayendanegea) and [[Molly Brant]] (Degonwadonti) from Tyendinaga.<ref name=":0" /> Her paternal grandparents moved to the Detroit area with the hope their nine children would have more opportunities away from the reservation. Her parents, Joseph and Hazel Brant, and her brother and sister, grew up in her paternal grandparent's Detroit home.<ref name=":1" /> Her father worked in an automobile factory, and later as a teacher.


She became pregnant at seventeen and married the baby's father. She had three children named Kim, Jill, and Jennifer.<ref name=":0" /> After leaving her fourteen-year abusive marriage in 1973, Brant became active in the feminist community and then announced her sexual orientation as a lesbian. She met her partner, Denise Dorsz, in 1976.<ref name=":1" /> They equally divided their time between living in Michigan and Ontario.
She married her husband and became pregnant at the age of 17. She went on to have three children named Kim, Jill, and Jennifer.<ref name=":0" /> After leaving her fourteen-year abusive marriage in 1973, Brant became active in the feminist community and announced her sexual orientation as a lesbian. She met her partner, Denise Dorsz, in 1976.<ref name=":1" /> They equally divided their time between living in Michigan and Ontario.


In the initial years following her divorce, Brant worked any unskilled job she could to support her three children, including a salesclerk, waitress, and cleaning woman.<ref name=":0" /> Her writing came later in her life at the age of forty when she had a monumental experience on a trip through the [[Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation|Mohawk reservation]] with Dorsz. An eagle flew in front of their car window while she was driving. The eagle landed on a nearby tree and Brant stopped the car to bear witness at the creature. They looked at one another and the nonverbal communication spoke to Brant. The eagle told her to start writing and thus her writing career began.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> She displayed writing ranges of humorous to aggressive and intense to spiritual writing.
In the initial years following her divorce, Brant worked any unskilled job she could to support her three children, including working as a salesclerk, waitress, and cleaner.<ref name=":0" /> Her writing came later in her life at the age of forty when she had a monumental experience on a trip through the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory with Dorsz. An eagle flew in front of their car window while she was driving. The eagle landed on a nearby tree and Brant stopped the car to bear witness at the creature. They looked at one another and the nonverbal communication spoke to Brant. The eagle told her to start writing and thus her writing career began.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> She displayed writing ranges of humorous to aggressive and intense to spiritual writing.


Her later years was spent as a grandmother and great grandmother to three grandsons Nathaneal, Benjamin, and Zachary, a granddaughter, Olivia as well as two great grandchildren Hazel and Luke. She died on August 6, 2015.
Her later years were spent as a grandmother and great-grandmother to three grandsons Nathaneal, Benjamin, and Zachary, a granddaughter, Olivia, as well as two great-grandchildren, Hazel and Luke. She died on August 6, 2015.


==Career==
==Career==
Beth Brant was born to write and almost immediately was recognized for her talents. She was published the first year she began officially writing. She was recognized by 1983 editors [[Adrienne Rich]] and [[Michelle Cliff]] from the lesbian periodical ''[[Sinister Wisdom]]'' and asked Brant to edit a collection of Native American woman's writing. This developed into ''[[A Gathering of Spirit]]'' (1988) where it, at first, was published in 1984 in ''Sinister Wisdom'' and then was reissued as a book many times.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> It was the first anthology of Native American's women writing edited by another Native American woman.
Beth Brant was born to write and was almost immediately recognized for her talents. She was published the first year she began officially writing. She was recognized by 1983 editors [[Adrienne Rich]] and [[Michelle Cliff]] from the lesbian periodical ''[[Sinister Wisdom]]'' who asked Brant to edit a collection of Native American woman's writing. This developed into ''[[A Gathering of Spirit]]'' (1988) where it, at first, was published in 1984 in ''Sinister Wisdom'' and then was reissued as a book many times.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> It was the first anthology of Native American's women writing edited by another Native American woman.


Her success continued with publication of ''Mohawk Trail'' in 1985. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and creative nonfiction. Then, continued the momentum in 1991 with ''Food and Spirits''. Her fiction embraces the themes of racism, colonialism, abuse, love, community, and what it means to be Native. ''Writing as Witness: Essays and Talk'', Brant's volume of essays was published in 1994. They covered a range of subjects regarding to the writer's craft and its meaning. In 2003, Brant continued with her second collection of essays called ''Testimony from the Faithful''.
Her success continued with publication of ''Mohawk Trail'' in 1985. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and creative nonfiction. Then, she continued the momentum in 1991 with ''Food and Spirits''. Her fiction embraces the themes of racism, colonialism, abuse, love, community, and what it means to be Native. ''Writing as Witness: Essays and Talk'', Brant's volume of essays, was published in 1994. The essays covered a range of subjects regarding the writer's craft and its meaning. In 2003, Brant continued with her second collection of essays called ''Testimony from the Faithful''.


Brant embraced her connection with her Native Mohawk people, while working on ''Testimony from the Faithful'', and pursued her oral history as well.<ref name=":1" /> She edited a series of autobiographical stories told by the elders of the [[Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory|Tyendinaga Mohawk territory]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Douglas|first=Carol Anne|date=1992|title=Beth Brant: Book & Spirits|url=|journal=Off Our Backs|series=22|issue=9|doi=|pmid=|access-date=}}</ref> This was called ''I'll Sing 'Till the Day I Die: Conversations with Tyendinaga Elders'' and was published in 1995. The project preserved the knowledge and wisdom through their stories.<ref name=":2" /> This made a scholarly contribution to the continued growing of Aboriginal oral history. A year after, Brant and Sandra Laronde published a co-edited issue of the annual journal ''Native Women in the Arts'', called ''Sweetgrass Grows All Around Her''. Brant's writing continued to be published in anthologies and periodicals, particularly focused on Native, feminist, and lesbian perspectives.
Brant embraced her connection with her Native Mohawk people while working on ''Testimony from the Faithful'', and pursued her oral history as well.<ref name=":1" /> She edited a series of autobiographical stories told by the Elders of the [[Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory|Tyendinaga Mohawk territory]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Douglas|first=Carol Anne|date=1992|title=Beth Brant: Book & Spirits|journal=Off Our Backs|series=22|issue=9}}</ref> This was called ''I'll Sing 'Till the Day I Die: Conversations with Tyendinaga Elders'' and was published in 1995. The project preserved the knowledge and wisdom through their stories.<ref name=":2" /> This made a scholarly contribution to the continued growing of Aboriginal oral history. A year after, Brant and Sandra Laronde published a co-edited issue of the annual journal ''Native Women in the Arts'', called ''Sweetgrass Grows All Around Her''. Brant's writing continued to be published in anthologies and periodicals, particularly focused on Native, feminist, and lesbian perspectives.


==Activism/Mentor==
==Activism and mentorship==
Brant played a pivotal role as one of the first Native lesbian writer in North America. Her work represents both identities of both her Native and lesbian sides.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> She, also, puts value on being a mother and grandmother.<ref name=":0" /> She had few role models when she began her writing career and has encouraged Native Americans women writers who succeeded her.<ref name=":1" /> Teaching and mentoring was significant role in Brant's life. Her work took her to university classes where classes provide conversation on topics such as colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia, and the survival of Aboriginal peoples. She lectured at the [[University of British Columbia]] in 1989 and 1990 and has guest lectured for classes in women's studies and Native American studies at the [[New College, Toronto|New College of the University of Toronto]].<ref name=":0" /> Also, has lectured and read at universities and culture centers across North America.
Brant played a pivotal role as one of the first lesbian-identifying Native American writers in North America. Her work represents both her Native and lesbian sides.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> She also put value in being a mother and grandmother.<ref name=":0" /> She had few role models when she began her writing career and encouraged Native American women writers who succeeded her.<ref name=":1" /> Teaching and mentoring was significant role in Brant's life. Her work took her to university classes to provide conversation on topics such as colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia, and the survival of Aboriginal peoples. She lectured at the [[University of British Columbia]] in 1989 and 1990 and guest lectured for classes in women's studies and Native American studies at the [[New College, Toronto|New College of the University of Toronto]].<ref name=":0" /> Also, Brant lectured and read at universities and culture centres across North America.


Brant has contributed to number of creative writing workshops, including the Women of Color Writing Workshop held in Vancouver in 1991, the 1991 Michigan Festival of Writers in East Lansing, the International Feminist Book Fair held in Amsterdam in 1992, and the Flight of the Mind Writing Workshop in Eugene, Oregon in 1992.<ref name=":0" /> In addition, she formed creative writing workshops or groups for Native American women, women in prison, and high school students. She has always looked for ways to help others express themselves, Brant participated in a project called Returning the Gift. This was designed to create new opportunities for Native writers to share their work. It included a 1992 meeting of 250 writers in Norman, Oklahoma, including various outreach programs and the formation of an organization called the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.
Brant contributed to a number of creative writing workshops, including the Women of Colour Writing Workshop held in Vancouver in 1991, the 1991 Michigan Festival of Writers in East Lansing, the International Feminist Book Fair held in Amsterdam in 1992, and the Flight of the Mind Writing Workshop in Eugene, Oregon in 1992.<ref name=":0" /> In addition, she formed creative writing workshops and groups for Native American women, women in prison, and high school students. She has always looked for ways to help others express themselves. Brant participated in a project called Returning the Gift, which was designed to create new opportunities for Native writers to share their work. It included a 1992 meeting of 250 writers in Norman, Oklahoma, including various outreach programs and the formation of an organization called the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.


Brant continued her efforts on other projects as well. In 1982, she confounded Turtle Grandmother,<ref name=":0" /> a clearinghouse for manuscripts by Native American women and a source of information about Native women. It lasted until 1987. She, also, was an [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] activist, working with [[People With AIDS|People with AIDS (PWA)]] and giving [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] education workshops throughout Native communities.<ref name=":0" />
Brant continued her efforts on other projects as well. In 1982, she and [[Denise Dorsz]] founded [[Turtle Grandmother Books]],<ref name=":0" /> a clearinghouse for manuscripts by Native American women and a source of information about Native women.<ref>Brady, Maureen, et al. “Interview: TURTLE GRANDMOTHER BOOKS.” Off Our Backs, vol. 12, no. 11, 1982, pp. 18–31. {{JSTOR|25774761}}.</ref> It lasted until 1987. She was also an [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] activist, working with [[People With AIDS|People with AIDS (PWA)]] and giving [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] education workshops throughout Native communities.<ref name=":0" />


==Awards==
==Awards==
* Creative Writing Award from the [http://www.michiganbusiness.org/community/council-arts-cultural-affairs/#MCACA Michigan Council for the Arts] (1984 and 1986)
* Creative Writing Award from the [http://www.michiganbusiness.org/community/council-arts-cultural-affairs/#MCACA Michigan Council for the Arts] (1984 and 1986)
* [[National Endowment for the Arts]] (1991)
* [[National Endowment for the Arts]] (1991)
* [http://canadacouncil.ca/writing-and-publishing Canada Council Award in Creative Writing] (1992)
* [http://canadacouncil.ca/writing-and-publishing Canada Council Award in Creative Writing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517191644/http://canadacouncil.ca/writing-and-publishing |date=2016-05-17 }} (1992)
* Affirmations Community Heritage Awards (1995)
* Affirmations Community Heritage Awards (1995)


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* Turtle Clan
* Turtle Clan


==Works==
==Selected works==


===Books===
===Books===
* ''Mohawk Trail''. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1985.
* ''Mohawk Trail''. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1985.
* ''Food & Spirits''. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1991.
* ''Food & Spirits''. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1991.
* ''A Generous Spirit: Selected Works by Beth Brant'', edited by Janice Gould. Dover, FL: Inanna Publications, 2019.
* ''Testimony from the Faithful''. 2003.


===Anthologies===
===Anthologies===
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* "The Good Red Road." ''American Indian Culture and Research Journal'' 21.1 (1997): 193-206.
* "The Good Red Road." ''American Indian Culture and Research Journal'' 21.1 (1997): 193-206.


===Anthologies where poetry appears===
===Anthologies where writing appears===
* Barrington, Judith, ed. ''An Intimate Wilderness: Lesbian Writers on Sexuality. Portland, OR: Eighth Mountain Press, 1991.
* Barrington, Judith, ed. ''An Intimate Wilderness: Lesbian Writers on Sexuality''. Portland, OR: Eighth Mountain Press, 1991.
* Bruchac, Joseph, ed. ''New Voices from the Longhouse: An Anthology of Contemporary Iroquois Writing''. Greenfield Center, NY: Greenfield Review Press, 1989.
* Bruchac, Joseph, ed. ''New Voices from the Longhouse: An Anthology of Contemporary Iroquois Writing''. Greenfield Center, NY: Greenfield Review Press, 1989.
* Bruchac, Joseph, ed. ''Songs from This Earth on Turtle's Back: Contemporary American Inidan Poetry. Greenfield Center, NY: Greenfield Review Press, 1983.
* Bruchac, Joseph, ed. ''Songs from This Earth on Turtle's Back: Contemporary American Indian Poetry''. Greenfield Center, NY: Greenfield Review Press, 1983.
* ''Dykewords: An Anthology of Lesbian Writing''. Ed. Lesbian Writing and Publishing Collective. Toronto: Women's Press, 1990.
* ''Dykewords: An Anthology of Lesbian Writing''. Ed. Lesbian Writing and Publishing Collective. Toronto: Women's Press, 1990.
* Piercy, Marge, ed. ''Early Ripening: Poetry by Women''. New York, Pandora Books, 1987.
* Piercy, Marge, ed. ''Early Ripening: Poetry by Women''. New York, Pandora Books, 1987.
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==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Bruchac, Carol, Linda Hogan, and Judith McDaniel. ''The Stories We Hold Secret: Tales of Women's Spiritual Development''. Greenfield Review Press, 1986.
* Bruchac, Carol, Linda Hogan, and Judith McDaniel. ''The Stories We Hold Secret: Tales of Women's Spiritual Development''. Greenfield Review Press, 1986.
* Day, Francis Ann. ''Lesbian and Gay Voices: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Literature for Children and Young Adults.'' Greenwood Press, 2000.
* Day, Francis Ann. ''Lesbian and Gay Voices: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Literature for Children and Young Adults.'' Greenwood Press, 2000.
* Cullum, Linda. "Survival's Song: Beth Brant and the Power of the Word." ''MELUS: The Journal of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States'' 24.3 (Fall 1999): 129-140.
* Cullum, Linda. "Survival's Song: Beth Brant and the Power of the Word." ''MELUS: The Journal of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States'' 24.3 (Fall 1999): 129-140.
* ''Feminist Writers''. Toronto: St. James Press, 1996.
* ''Feminist Writers''. Toronto: St. James Press, 1996.
* Petrone, Penny. ''Native Literature in Canada: From the Oral Tradition to the Present''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1990.
* Petrone, Penny. ''Native Literature in Canada: From the Oral Tradition to the Present''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1990.
* ''Smoke Rising: The Native North American Literary Companion''. Ed. Janet Witalec and Sharon Malinowski. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press, 1995.
* ''Smoke Rising: The Native North American Literary Companion''. Ed. Janet Witalec and Sharon Malinowski. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press, 1995.
* {{cite book |last1=Tyrkus |first1=Michael J |title=Gay & lesbian biography |date=1997 |publisher=St. James Press |isbn=9781558622371 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/gaylesbianbiogra0000unse/page/393 393-394] |url=https://archive.org/details/gaylesbianbiogra0000unse/page/393 }}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:20th-century Canadian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian poets]]
[[Category:Canadian women poets]]
[[Category:Canadian women poets]]
[[Category:Lesbian writers]]
[[Category:American lesbian writers]]
[[Category:Canadian Mohawk people]]
[[Category:Canadian Mohawk women writers]]
[[Category:Canadian Mohawk writers]]
[[Category:Two-spirit people]]
[[Category:Two-spirit people]]
[[Category:American Mohawk people]]
[[Category:American Mohawk people]]
[[Category:LGBT writers from Canada]]
[[Category:LGBTQ First Nations people]]
[[Category:LGBT writers from the United States]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Michigan]]
[[Category:LGBT First Nations people]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ poets]]
[[Category:LGBT people from Michigan]]
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[[Category:LGBT poets]]
[[Category:American women poets]]
[[Category:American women poets]]
[[Category:20th-century American poets]]
[[Category:20th-century American poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian women writers]]
[[Category:First Nations poets]]
[[Category:Canadian Mohawk poets]]
[[Category:First Nations women writers]]
[[Category:First Nations women writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Detroit]]
[[Category:Writers from Detroit]]
[[Category:20th-century First Nations writers]]
[[Category:20th-century First Nations writers]]
[[Category:21st-century First Nations writers]]
[[Category:21st-century First Nations writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Canadian non-binary writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Canadian lesbian writers]]
⚫
[[Category:Canadian LGBTQ poets]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:American non-binary writers]]
[[Category:Non-binary lesbians]]
[[Category:Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte people]]
[[Category:Turtle Clan of the Iroquois]]

Latest revision as of 06:16, 17 November 2024

Beth Brant
Born(1941-04-06)April 6, 1941
Detroit, Michigan
DiedAugust 6, 2015(2015-08-06) (aged 74)
Melvindale, Michigan
NationalityMohawk
United States
Known for6 publications based on experience with sexuality, abuse, growing up Native American, and Co-founding Turtle Grandmother manuscript publishing house

Beth E. Brant, Degonwadonti,[1] or Kaieneke'hak[2] was a Mohawk writer, essayist, and poet of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario, Canada.[1][2] She was also a lecturer, editor, and speaker. She wrote based on her deep connection to her indigenous people and touched on the infliction of racism and colonization.[2] She brought her writing to life from her personal experiences of being a lesbian, having an abusive spouse, and her mixed blood heritage from having a Mohawk father and a Scottish-Irish mother.[1] Her published works include three edited anthologies and three books of essays and short stories.

Life

[edit]

She was born in Detroit, Michigan on May 6, 1941.[1][2] Brant grew up off the reservation; however, she maintained a deep link to her Tyendinaga Mohawk heritage with her paternal grandparents where she learned the culture, language, and traditional stories. She was descended from a family of tribal leaders Chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) and Molly Brant (Degonwadonti) from Tyendinaga.[1] Her paternal grandparents moved to the Detroit area with the hope their nine children would have more opportunities away from the reservation. Her parents, Joseph and Hazel Brant, and her brother and sister, grew up in her paternal grandparent's Detroit home.[2] Her father worked in an automobile factory, and later as a teacher.

She married her husband and became pregnant at the age of 17. She went on to have three children named Kim, Jill, and Jennifer.[1] After leaving her fourteen-year abusive marriage in 1973, Brant became active in the feminist community and announced her sexual orientation as a lesbian. She met her partner, Denise Dorsz, in 1976.[2] They equally divided their time between living in Michigan and Ontario.

In the initial years following her divorce, Brant worked any unskilled job she could to support her three children, including working as a salesclerk, waitress, and cleaner.[1] Her writing came later in her life at the age of forty when she had a monumental experience on a trip through the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory with Dorsz. An eagle flew in front of their car window while she was driving. The eagle landed on a nearby tree and Brant stopped the car to bear witness at the creature. They looked at one another and the nonverbal communication spoke to Brant. The eagle told her to start writing and thus her writing career began.[1][2] She displayed writing ranges of humorous to aggressive and intense to spiritual writing.

Her later years were spent as a grandmother and great-grandmother to three grandsons Nathaneal, Benjamin, and Zachary, a granddaughter, Olivia, as well as two great-grandchildren, Hazel and Luke. She died on August 6, 2015.

Career

[edit]

Beth Brant was born to write and was almost immediately recognized for her talents. She was published the first year she began officially writing. She was recognized by 1983 editors Adrienne Rich and Michelle Cliff from the lesbian periodical Sinister Wisdom who asked Brant to edit a collection of Native American woman's writing. This developed into A Gathering of Spirit (1988) where it, at first, was published in 1984 in Sinister Wisdom and then was reissued as a book many times.[1][2] It was the first anthology of Native American's women writing edited by another Native American woman.

Her success continued with publication of Mohawk Trail in 1985. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and creative nonfiction. Then, she continued the momentum in 1991 with Food and Spirits. Her fiction embraces the themes of racism, colonialism, abuse, love, community, and what it means to be Native. Writing as Witness: Essays and Talk, Brant's volume of essays, was published in 1994. The essays covered a range of subjects regarding the writer's craft and its meaning. In 2003, Brant continued with her second collection of essays called Testimony from the Faithful.

Brant embraced her connection with her Native Mohawk people while working on Testimony from the Faithful, and pursued her oral history as well.[2] She edited a series of autobiographical stories told by the Elders of the Tyendinaga Mohawk territory.[3] This was called I'll Sing 'Till the Day I Die: Conversations with Tyendinaga Elders and was published in 1995. The project preserved the knowledge and wisdom through their stories.[3] This made a scholarly contribution to the continued growing of Aboriginal oral history. A year after, Brant and Sandra Laronde published a co-edited issue of the annual journal Native Women in the Arts, called Sweetgrass Grows All Around Her. Brant's writing continued to be published in anthologies and periodicals, particularly focused on Native, feminist, and lesbian perspectives.

Activism and mentorship

[edit]

Brant played a pivotal role as one of the first lesbian-identifying Native American writers in North America. Her work represents both her Native and lesbian sides.[1][2] She also put value in being a mother and grandmother.[1] She had few role models when she began her writing career and encouraged Native American women writers who succeeded her.[2] Teaching and mentoring was significant role in Brant's life. Her work took her to university classes to provide conversation on topics such as colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia, and the survival of Aboriginal peoples. She lectured at the University of British Columbia in 1989 and 1990 and guest lectured for classes in women's studies and Native American studies at the New College of the University of Toronto.[1] Also, Brant lectured and read at universities and culture centres across North America.

Brant contributed to a number of creative writing workshops, including the Women of Colour Writing Workshop held in Vancouver in 1991, the 1991 Michigan Festival of Writers in East Lansing, the International Feminist Book Fair held in Amsterdam in 1992, and the Flight of the Mind Writing Workshop in Eugene, Oregon in 1992.[1] In addition, she formed creative writing workshops and groups for Native American women, women in prison, and high school students. She has always looked for ways to help others express themselves. Brant participated in a project called Returning the Gift, which was designed to create new opportunities for Native writers to share their work. It included a 1992 meeting of 250 writers in Norman, Oklahoma, including various outreach programs and the formation of an organization called the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.

Brant continued her efforts on other projects as well. In 1982, she and Denise Dorsz founded Turtle Grandmother Books,[1] a clearinghouse for manuscripts by Native American women and a source of information about Native women.[4] It lasted until 1987. She was also an AIDS activist, working with People with AIDS (PWA) and giving AIDS education workshops throughout Native communities.[1]

Awards

[edit]

Memberships

[edit]

Selected works

[edit]

Books

[edit]
  • Mohawk Trail. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1985.
  • Food & Spirits. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1991.
  • A Generous Spirit: Selected Works by Beth Brant, edited by Janice Gould. Dover, FL: Inanna Publications, 2019.

Anthologies

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  • A Gathering of Spirit: A Collection by North American Women. Editor. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1988.
  • I'll Sing `til the Day I Die: Conversations with Tyendinaga Elders. Toronto: McGilligan Books, 1995.
  • Writing as Witness: Essay and Talk. Toronto: Women's Press, 1994.

Additional works

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  • "Grandmothers of a New World." Women of Power 16 (Spring 1990): 40-47.
  • "Giveaway: Native Lesbian Writers." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 18 (Summer 1993): 944-947.
  • "The Good Red Road." American Indian Culture and Research Journal 21.1 (1997): 193-206.

Anthologies where writing appears

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  • Barrington, Judith, ed. An Intimate Wilderness: Lesbian Writers on Sexuality. Portland, OR: Eighth Mountain Press, 1991.
  • Bruchac, Joseph, ed. New Voices from the Longhouse: An Anthology of Contemporary Iroquois Writing. Greenfield Center, NY: Greenfield Review Press, 1989.
  • Bruchac, Joseph, ed. Songs from This Earth on Turtle's Back: Contemporary American Indian Poetry. Greenfield Center, NY: Greenfield Review Press, 1983.
  • Dykewords: An Anthology of Lesbian Writing. Ed. Lesbian Writing and Publishing Collective. Toronto: Women's Press, 1990.
  • Piercy, Marge, ed. Early Ripening: Poetry by Women. New York, Pandora Books, 1987.
  • Roscoe, Will, ed. Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cullum, Linda, ed. (2004). "Beth Brant (aka Degonwadonti): (1941- ) American Indian (Bay of Quinte Mohawk)". Contemporary American Ethnic Poets: Lives, Works, Sources. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 42–45. ISBN 0-313-32484-0.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Brownlie, Robin Jarvis (2004). "Brant, Beth E". In Stein, Marc (ed.). Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America. Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 165–166. ISBN 0-684-31261-1.
  3. ^ a b Douglas, Carol Anne (1992). "Beth Brant: Book & Spirits". Off Our Backs. 22 (9).
  4. ^ Brady, Maureen, et al. “Interview: TURTLE GRANDMOTHER BOOKS.” Off Our Backs, vol. 12, no. 11, 1982, pp. 18–31. JSTOR 25774761.

Bibliography

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  • "Beth Brant (aka Degonwadonti)" Contemporary American Ethnic Poets. Ed. Linda Cullum. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004. 42-5. Print.
  • Brownlie, Robin Jarvis. "Brant, Beth E." Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered History in America. Ed. Marc Stein. Vol. 1. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. 165-6. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 May 2016.
  • Douglas, Carol Anne. "Beth Brant: Book & Spirits." Off Our Backs 22.9 (1992): 1. ProQuest. Web. 20 May 2016.

Further reading

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  • Bruchac, Carol, Linda Hogan, and Judith McDaniel. The Stories We Hold Secret: Tales of Women's Spiritual Development. Greenfield Review Press, 1986.
  • Day, Francis Ann. Lesbian and Gay Voices: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Literature for Children and Young Adults. Greenwood Press, 2000.
  • Cullum, Linda. "Survival's Song: Beth Brant and the Power of the Word." MELUS: The Journal of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States 24.3 (Fall 1999): 129-140.
  • Feminist Writers. Toronto: St. James Press, 1996.
  • Petrone, Penny. Native Literature in Canada: From the Oral Tradition to the Present. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1990.
  • Smoke Rising: The Native North American Literary Companion. Ed. Janet Witalec and Sharon Malinowski. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press, 1995.
  • Tyrkus, Michael J (1997). Gay & lesbian biography. St. James Press. pp. 393-394. ISBN 9781558622371.
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