Beth Brant

Beth E. Brant, Degonwadonti, (1941–2015) 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. She went on to have three children named Kim, Jill, and Jennifer. 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. This developed into A Gathering of Spirit where it, at first, was published in 1984 in Sinister Wisdom and then was reissued as a book many times. This was called I'll Sing 'Till the Day I Die: Conversations with Tyendinaga Elders and was published in 1995. It lasted until 1987. She was also an AIDS activist, working with People with AIDS (PWA) and giving AIDS education workshops throughout Native communities. Affirmations Community Heritage Awards (1995)

Memberships National Writers Union (United States and Canada) Native Circle of Writers of the Association North American Indian Association Lesbians and Gays of the First Nations Turtle Clan

Selected works

Books 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 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 "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 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.