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EncyclopEdia of amErican indian litEraturE
EncyclopEdia of amErican indian litEraturE Jennifer McClinton-Temple Alan Velie
Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature Copyright © 2007 by Jennifer McClinton-Temple and Alan Velie All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 ISBN-10: 0-8160-5656-0 ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-5656-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McClinton-Temple, Jennifer Encyclopedia of American Indian literature / Jennifer McClinton-Temple, Alan Velie. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-8160-5656-0 (acid-free paper) 1. American literature—Indian authors—Encyclopedias. 2. Indians in literature—Encyclopedias. 3. Indians of North America—Intellectual life—Encyclopedias. I. McClinton-Temple, Jennifer. II. Title. PS153.152E53 2007 810.9’89703—dc22 2006023762 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfile.com Text design by Rachel L. Berlin Cover design by Takeshi Takahashi Printed in the United States of America VB FOF 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Table of ConTenTs
Introduction
vi
A to Z Entries
1
Appendixes
415
Selected Bibliography of Works by American Indian Authors
417
Bibliography of Secondary Sources
435
Contributors
437
Index
447
InTroduCTIon
Few American writers of other ethnic groups have achieved excellence in both prose and verse, but quite a few Indian writers (e.g., Scott Momaday, James Welch, Louise Erdrich, and Sherman Alexie) have done so. Sarah Winnemucca was a memoirist and historian whose Life among the Piutes is a classic. Winnemucca was the first Indian woman to achieve literary recognition. Alexander Posey was a poet and humorist. His verse was generally considered mediocre, but his “Fus Fixico Letters” are appreciated as excellent examples of political satire. They inspired the work of a later Indian satirist, Will Rogers (Cherokee, 1879–1935). Many Americans familiar with Will Rogers think of him as a cowboy rather than an Indian. He was, in fact, both, starting his career as an entertainer under the stage name “The Cherokee Kid.” In the first half of the 20th century, the major Indian writers were Charles Eastman (Sioux, 1858–1939), John Joseph Mathews (Osage, 1894– 1979), and D’Arcy McNickle (Cree, Flathead, 1904–77). Eastman lived the life of a Plains Indian until age 15, when his father put him in school. Eastman eventually graduated from Dartmouth and ultimately became a physician. He was active in early pan-Indian movements in the United
North American Indians had a rich literature at the time of first contact with Europeans. The principal genres of traditional literature were songs, the equivalent of European lyric poems, which were often put to music before 1700, and tales, which were very similar to European short narratives. Indians continue to employ these forms today, especially in tribal settings, but Indians who are professional authors in North America utilize the same genres as writers of other ethnic groups, that is, fiction (the novel and short story), poetry, drama, and various forms of nonfiction. The first American Indian to publish a lite