The Shining Hands of My Ponca Ancestors
In sincere, from-the-heart storytelling, The Shining Hands of My Ponca Ancestors depicts the life of a young, contemporary Ponca, who—with the help of friends, relatives, spirits, and ancestors—is learning what is really possible for him and his tribe and how dramatically different that is from the dominant cultural messaging of his youth. An account of inspiration, ancestor intervention, the indestructible Indigenous core of his Native people, and the immense beauty of an ongoing way of life, Shining Hands is rife with meaning for Native and non-Native readers alike. Viewed through his personal life, Shining Hands is a prayer for the young that they may see their own powerful potential, too.
“Ponca poet Cliff Taylor’s new collection of essays is also the stuff of poetry and dreams—a delightful series of narrative effusions on Indigenous identity and ancestral voices, on his Ponca homeland in Nebraska, on Ponca traditions and folklore, all revelatory of [his] own visionary verve and zany zest for life.”
—Thomas C. Gannon, author of Birding While Indian: A Mixed-Blood Memoir
"The Shining Hands of My Ponca Ancestors is a poetic memoir and storytelling odyssey of personal and communal restoration. Cliff Taylor’s experiences growing up as an urban Native in Columbus, Nebraska, and reconnecting to Northern Ponca ceremony and culture are told through a series of engaging vignettes. The stories . . . are teeming with healing love and serve as a medicinal roadmap . . . Cliff’s narrative [tells] how his individual journey of healing and engagement with Native traditions follows the trajectory of the Northern Ponca’s own cultural renaissance. The Ponca’s long journey toward regaining federal recognition in 1990 came about after enduring many hardships and heartbreaks—not unlike Cliff’s own circumstances and many other individual Ponca. There is beauty in witnessing Cliff’s own healing and reconnection to ceremony and tradition occurring alongside the Northern Ponca’s restoration. Cliff’s work reminds us that just as there is intergenerational trauma in Native communities, there is also intergenerational healing. "
—Brady DeSanti, Co-Editor of Understanding and Teaching Native American History
"Luminous, honest, moving, and warm, Cliff Taylor's The Shining Hands of My Ponca Ancestors is offered in a voice as sublimely natural, poetic, and unflinchingly real as any you'll ever encounter. This book is a shining gift."
—Joy Castro, The Truth Book and Island of Bones
ISBN: 978-1-946163-66-0
Page Count: 200
Hardcover
Publication Year: 2025
