Frederick White, a professor at Slippery Rock University, holds his new book of poetry, "White Feathers," in his office at Spotts World Culture Building on the SRU campus. White's poems both celebrate and lament what it means to be Native American.

SLIPPERY ROCK — As his native language continues to fade with the passing of generations, Frederick White both celebrates and laments what it means to be Native American in a new chapbook of poems called "White Feathers."

Born in the Eagle Clan of the Haida Nation in Prince Rupert, Canada, White grew up on an island and in a culture centered on the mother and relationships.

While men hold the majority of political positions in the 6,000 member tribe, the mothers determine their placement and power. A connection to the land also played a role in White's upbringing.

The poet reflects on his culture in "A memorial for Haida."

"Not too far in the future, Haida speaking elders will no longer be with us, no more Native Haida speakers, imagine the void consider the loss, no more Native Haida speakers," reads the poem.

White, a Slippery Rock University professor, said his book largely deals with being a bicultural person in a world that doesn't understand Native Americans, although history is filled with the cultures' stories.

"It's not just one nebulous idea," White said. "There are very distinct expressions of that and Haida happens to be one.

"There are many hundreds, but this is a very specific one that not many hear from, because it's not in the mainstream Native American literary canon."

The collection of poems includes experiences White has had from childhood until now from the Haida perspective.

"It deals with issues that I have encountered and just sort of have to live with," White said. "The town I grew up in has a third, maybe even more, population of First Nations, not just Haidas, but a few other tribes.

"Even with that dominant population, you always knew that you were not the dominant population, because you are Native American."

White said he also has experienced the feeling of being an outsider in his efforts to get his work published.

"The problem is with Native American literature, you are dealing with almost a canon already, of what is acceptable writing," White said. "If you are not within the parameters of those tribes, mainly in the plains or southwest, you have very little opportunities for publication."

White has had his work returned in the past with potential publishers telling him that it did not look like work from other Native Americans in the southwest. That mentality is something he also hopes to break down and explore in his work to expose people to the variety and diversity of Native American people.

"Wherever I go, I am marginalized," White said. "Sometimes that is self-imposed, but a lot of that is because of who I am, based on perceptions people have of what a Native American should be, and as a result of that, I could never be in the mainstream, because I am not mainstream."

A two-time high school dropout, White left the island for Los Angeles in 1981 after working different jobs as a teenager. After working at Youth with a Mission in California, he received his GED in 1985 and started his career in education. He entered college in 1986, and later earned a Ph.D. White began teaching at SRU in 2002.

In his first book, "Ancestral Language Acquisition Among Native Americans: A Study of a Haida Language Class," White studies participation and learning styles of Native American students. White also explores the transition of Native Americans in the classroom, along with preserving the Haida language. The book, which also served as his dissertation, was his way of giving back to the tribe that supported him for so long.

"When the students went to school, they spoke the native language, but they eliminated the language from them, because in schools they were forbidden to use the language and there were all sorts of punishments and abuse resulting from the use of the language," White said. "A lot of what happened impacted them so much that they refused to speak the language even though they were fluent in it. They ended up just speaking English."

Out of 6,000 people in his tribe, about 200 are fluent in the native language today.

"White Feathers" is published by the Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.