The word "elegy" comes from the Ancient Greek elogos, meaning a mournful poem or song, in particular, a song of grief in response to loss. Because mourning and memorialization are so deeply embedded in the human condition, all human societies have developed means for lamenting the dead, and, in "That the People Might Live," Arnold Krupat surveys the traditions of Native American elegiac expression over several centuries.

Introduction1. Oral Performances (i)The Iroquois Condolence RitesThe Tlingit koo.'eex'Occasional ElegySome Ghost Dance Songs as Elegy2. Oral Performances (ii)"Logan's Lament"Black Hawk's "Surrender Speech"Chief Sealth's FarewellTwo Farewells by CochiseThe Surrender of Chief Joseph3. Authors and WritersBlack Hawk's LifeBlack Elk SpeaksWilliam Apess's Eulogy on King PhilipThe Elegiac Poetry of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, John Rollin Ridge, and Others4. Elegy in the "Native American Renaissance" and AfterProse Elegy in Momaday, Hogan, and VizenorElegiac PoetryAppendix: Best Texts of the Speeches Considered in Chapter 2NotesWorks CitedIndex