LeAnne Howe, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, is celebrated for her incisive explorations of Native American history and culture. Her writing masterfully blends myth, fact, and personal memory, crafting narratives that are both rich and layered. Howe delves into themes of identity, resilience, and the enduring impact of the past on the present through her compelling storytelling and poetry. Her literary significance lies in her ability to give voice to forgotten histories and offer a distinctive perspective on the Native American experience.
Evidence of Red contains dramatic events of the creation of a people, interwoven with a haunting narrative of their lost homelands. Howe takes her readers through the chaos of lost lives and the cannibalism of fallen lovers, inviting readers into her world of Choctaw Code Talking.
May 1875: Mary Todd Lincoln is addicted to opiates and tried in a Chicago court on charges of insanity. Entered into evidence is Ms. Lincoln’s claim that every night a Savage Indian enters her bedroom and slashes her face and scalp. She is swiftly committed to Bellevue Place Sanitarium. Her hauntings may be a reminder that in 1862, President Lincoln ordered the hanging of thirty-eight Dakotas in the largest mass execution in United States history. No one has ever linked the two events―until now. Savage Conversations is a daring account of a former first lady and the ghosts that tormented her for the contradictions and crimes on which this nation is founded.