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"Songs to Kill a Wîhtikow plunges the reader into a new way of speaking about history and the present, With wit and courage McLeod enters new territory where storytelling becomes street-song and words live within the sorrows and exuberance of his people. Myth and the degradation of the body are brought forth in McLeod's written and visual images, yet this work is finally about the resiliency of the spirit against powerful internal and external forces.

McLeod is an accomplished visual artist; his insightful paintings present an uncompromising view of the harsh realities faced by Aboriginal people in the past as well as today. His poems sing with humour and the hard lessons that can only be learned through perseverance. McLeod writes of the struggle for self-respect and awareness, and he writes of a disconnect that our contemporary society has with the living earth. Songs to Kill a Wîhtikow is a stunning first collection, exhilarating in its scope and originality. There is a radiance within these poems and paintings that places Neal McLeod at the forefront of artists of his generation.

A young Aboriginal writer and visual artist has emerged in Saskatchewan to become a fulcrum for the passions and perspectives of his generation and his people. Neal McLeod is that writer and his first book, Songs to Kill a Wîhtikow is destined to be a classic."--Back cover.