Native American literature

Native American literature
Name	Native American literature
Caption	Indigenous storytelling and written works
Region	North America
Languages	Navajo, Lakota, Cherokee, Cree, Ojibwe, Choctaw, Hopi, Zuni, Inuktitut, Mi'kmaq, Tlingit, Haida, and others

Native American literature is the body of oral and written works produced by Indigenous peoples of what is now the United States and Canada, encompassing myth, epic, biography, poetry, drama, and prose. It includes traditional narratives transmitted through elders and contemporary texts by authors engaged with Bureau of Indian Affairs, American Indian Movement, National Congress of American Indians, Assembly of First Nations, and other institutions. Writers and storytellers negotiate histories involving events such as the Trail of Tears, Wounded Knee Massacre (1890), Indian Removal Act, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and legal decisions like Worcester v. Georgia.

Origins and Oral Traditions

Oral traditions emerged among peoples such as the Iroquois Confederacy, Cherokee Nation, Navajo Nation, Lakota Sioux, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Tlingit, Haida Nation, Inuit, and Mi'kmaq and were carried in contexts including clan gatherings, powwows, and ceremonies tied to places like the Mississippi River, Great Plains, Pacific Northwest, and Southwestern United States. Storytellers and cultural figures—known across nations as elders and knowledge-keepers—preserved cosmogonies, trickster cycles, and hero quests involving figures likened to Coyote, Raven, and Spider Woman, intersecting with seasonal cycles, kinship systems, and rituals recognized by institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and the American Philosophical Society. Oral forms influenced later written genres through performers connected to communities like the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Seminole Tribe, Pueblo peoples, and Anasazi archaeological traditions.

Colonial Contact and Early Written Records

Contact with Europeans produced early written records by explorers, missionaries, traders, and Indigenous scribes who negotiated with agents from states like Spain, France, Britain, and later the United States. Notable early texts include missionary transcriptions and translations associated with figures in the Jesuit missions in North America, documents produced after events like the Pueblo Revolt (1680), and records tied to colonial offices such as the Hudson's Bay Company. Indigenous individuals such as Sequoyah and scribes in mission schools produced written Cherokee and other syllabaries, while accounts involving Captain James Cook and colonial administrators preserved Indigenous testimony, sometimes mediated by treaties like the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868).

19th-Century Developments and Autobiography

The nineteenth century saw Indigenous authors produce autobiographical and documentary writing amid removal, warfare, and assimilation policies tied to laws such as the Indian Removal Act and institutions like the Board of Indian Commissioners. Figures such as Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Tenskwatawa, William Apess, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, N. Scott Momaday's ancestors reference—and others engaged in print culture through newspapers, pamphlets, and lectures associated with venues like the Lyceum movement and publications such as the Indian Rights Association. Autobiography and captivity narratives intersected with events including the Seminole Wars, Bear River Massacre, and missionary schooling exemplified by the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

20th-Century Renaissance and Native American Renaissance

The twentieth century brought renewed literary visibility with authors affiliated with universities like University of New Mexico, University of Arizona, University of Oklahoma, Cornell University, and movements connected to activism around the American Indian Movement and organizations such as the National Museum of the American Indian. Key figures include N. Scott Momaday, whose work resonated with awards like the Pulitzer Prize; Leslie Marmon Silko, James Welch, Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, Joseph Bruchac, Diane Glancy, and Simon Ortiz. These writers engaged with events such as the Occupation of Alcatraz (1969–1971), legal cases like Solem v. Helm, and cultural projects sponsored by bodies such as the National Endowment for the Arts.

Contemporary Voices and Diverse Genres

Contemporary Indigenous authors publish across poetry, fiction, drama, graphic novels, and scholarship, often connected to presses like University of Arizona Press, University of Nebraska Press, Graywolf Press, Tin House Books, and initiatives such as the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. Recent figures include Tommy Orange, Rebecca Roanhorse, Cherie Dimaline, LeAnne Howe, Eden Robinson, Waubgeshig Rice, Stephen Graham Jones, Katherine T. Carter—and younger authors appearing in awards like the PEN America Literary Awards, National Book Award, and festivals such as the American Indian Literature Festival. Genres expanded to include speculative fiction, Indigenous futurisms intersecting with themes from Standing Rock Sioux Tribe protests, eco-justice movements tied to the Keystone XL pipeline debates, and graphic storytelling by artists associated with institutions like the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

Themes, Motifs, and Cultural Perspectives

Recurring themes include sovereignty and land embodied in references to locales like Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Navajo Nation Reservation, Black Hills, and waterways such as the Columbia River; memory and testimony connected to events like Wounded Knee Massacre (1973); kinship and matrilineal structures exemplified in communities such as the Dineʼ (Navajo), Ojibwe (Chippewa), and Choctaw Nation; and revitalization of ceremonies documented alongside projects at the National Museum of the American Indian and tribal cultural centers. Motifs such as trickster figures, shapeshifting, and land-as-character recur in poems and novels that dialogue with historical incidents including the Trail of Tears and legal struggles like Arizona v. United States.

Language, Translation, and Revitalization Issues

Language plays a central role, with work produced in and translated from languages such as Cherokee syllabary (linked to Sequoyah), Navajo language (Diné Bizaad), Lakota language, Cree language, Ojibwe language, Inuktitut, Hawaiian language revival contexts, and many others. Translation projects involve collaborations with institutions like the Library of Congress and universities, and intersect with revitalization programs run by entities such as tribal colleges—Diné College, Sitting Bull College, First Nations University of Canada—and language activists connected to initiatives supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Category:Indigenous literature