Washing My Mother's Body: A Ceremony for Grief stories Joshua Whitehead unravels the coded

Joshua Whitehead unravels the coded "I" to trace the formation of a colonized self and reclaim representations of Indigenous texts

and truth-telling

Victorian gender rituals

and confirms his reputation as one of the most talented and original writers of his generation

Washing My Mother's Body: A Ceremony for Grief stories Joshua Whitehead unravels the codedA beautifully illustrated edition of Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's poem "Washing My Mother's Body," which offers a way through grief when the loss appears unbearable. As I wash my mother's face, I tell her how beautiful she is, how brave, how her beauty and bravery live on in her grandchildren. Her face is relaxed, peaceful. Her earth memory body has not left yet, but when I see her the next day, embalmed and in the casket in the funeral home, it will be