A History of Native American Literature

The history of Native American literature begins with traditional storytelling. Prior to the Native American Renaissance, authors such as Simon Pokagon and Charles Alexander Eastman based their writing on personal experiences, opinions, and struggles. When the 1960's and 1970's yielded a new generation of Native Americans, young people took a new interest in the ideas of colonization, nativism, and cultural histories. While these ideas remained common themes throughout new writing, authors found new ways to convey their messages. Through looking at the past century, we can see how influential Native American authors have used their traditions in new ways to protest against and educate others about the concerns and struggles facing them.

The Oral Traditions

In Native American culture, storytelling isn't simply something to pass the time. Stories hold the history of the people, the collective memory of the tribe. This tradition is a fundamental part of their culture, connecting people to their past
and their surroundings. However, colonization began with the coming of the Europeans, forcing assimilation on the Native Americans and causing some to lose their connection to the past. With colonization, Native Americans were told and expected to pick up on the culture of their new colonizers, and not to rely on the stories that held their past and present together.






The Turn of the Century

Since Europeans first came to America, the process of colonization has proved difficult for Native Americans to withstand. First explorers and settlers, and later the American government forsake any rights of Native Americans, leaving them small reservations which weren't even safe from nuclear hazards and train rails. However, as their land, freedom, culture, and lives were taken away from them by the white men, government schools became mandatory to attend, giving Native Americans a way to share their own histories with a large audience. In the late 1800's, Native American writers began telling their stories through books in the form of autobiographical novels. It was then that they could express their feelings about their colonizers, and speak of nativism openly.

Simon Pokagon

Born 1830, was a Potawatomi Indian with a lot to share with the world. He spent his life working for the freedom and rights of his fellow Native Americans. He was straightforward about his feelings toward the “pale-faced race” in such novels as The Red Man’s Rebuke and The Red Man’s Greeting (1893). Many of his works and efforts were driven by his childhood, when having to watch the land of his ancestors be destroyed by “the cyclone of civilization”. His novels were not only some of the earliest written work on behalf of Native Americans, they also held meaning and values which many Native American’s shared. In his works, we see the themes of nativism and cultural identity that can be seen throughout the history of Native American literature.

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Charles Alexander Eastman was born in 1858, to a Dakota Indian and his mixed-blood wife. While Charles was born on a small reservation near Redwood Falls, Minnesota, he grew up to attend Dartmouth College and Boston University, becoming a successful physician and writer. His works contain a lot of autobiographical writing, allowing many non-Indian readers to have a better understanding of the culture, values, and abilities of Native Americans for the first time. His works have a way of fusing the traditional upbringing he received from his grandmother with his own Christian spirituality, along with detailing events that occurred while he was a refugee in Canada. Novels such as Memories of an Indian Boyhood, his autobiography which was published in 1902, and Red Hunters and Animal People, a collection of legends, help us to see what Native Americans were facing; not only were they harassed and killed by white men as they were pushed out of their land, but also the way in which many of them used a combination of their history, traditional upbringing, and culture with the new Christian mentality to fight against stereotypes and oppressors.

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The Native American Renaissance
In the 60's and 70's, these idea's and feelings were rekindled within the youth, leading to a breakthrough into the mainstream Euro-American society. When N. Scott Momaday came out with House Made of Dawn, he crossed new boundaries, bringing Native American literature into the homes of millions of Americans, and allowing them to experience the struggles first hand. In John Lloyd Purdy's "The Baby Boom Generation and the reception of Native American literatures: D'Arcy Mcknickels' "Runner in the Sun", Lloyd explains how "In 1969, Momaday, a writer of Kiowa descent, won the Pulitzer Prize for his first novel, House Made of Dawn (1966); and in the 1970's the window of publishing possibilities opened a bit wider for others, such as Simon Ortiz, Leslie Marmon Silko, James Welch, and Geral Vizenor" (Lloyd). This Renaissance has indeed opened the doors for many Native American authors, and it has also sent a riple of creativity through generations to come.

N. Scott Momaday’s writing has greatly helped Native American Literature break into the mainstream. He, along with many other writers of his time, started what many deem as "The Native American Renaissance". With novels such as House Made of Dawn (1966), Momaday tackled many issues which were surrounding Native Americans during this time: war, drinking, nativism, and the oppression from mainstream America, giving authors such as Silko and Alexie the ability and inspiriation to create their own stories. Momaday uses traditional stories and methods, but manages to retell it in a way which makes them new and understandable by all audiences. We can see Momaday's influence in Alexie's writing, as well as other modern Native American authors.

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Leslie Marmon Silko has spent her career reaching out to educate and comfort her audiences with moving, enlightening novels concerning modern day Native Americans. Most noticeably is her 1977 novel Ceremony, which speaks to those caught between their Native American culture and their American identity. Like other authors of her time, Silko focuses on the relationship between man and nature, the importance of storytelling, and the dangers of the Euro-American society. Silko speaks from experience in many of her novels. Like the protagonist from Ceremony, Silko is not a pure blooded Indian, which caused social isolation for her. However, she was taught by her family about the traditions and stories of their culture, and she uses her knowledge and experience to help others feel less alone and more comfortable with their identities. Silko encourages her readers not to be afraid of their heritage, and to embrace their culture through stories and landscapes.

Modern Native American Literature

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Sherman Alexie represents the newest generation of Native American literature. While many young writers now are using previously unseen writing tactics, humor in particular, his message is still reminiscent of the writers before him. Alexie manages to reach audiences of all backgrounds to help unify and understand Native American culture. In his collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Alexie shows us the struggles modern Native Americans must go through, both on the reservation and outside of it. Although his writing may not be traditional, he pulls from traditional influences, and argues the same points that Native American authors have been arguing for decades. He can be seen as a continance of the Native American Renaisance, putting his Native American heritage into mainstream media.


Purdy, John Lloyd. Western American Literature, Fall 2008. 43.3, p233-57. 28 May 2009. Ohio University, Alden Library.