Making the Case for “Modern” Native American Memoir with Recommended Reading List

Tags

Allison Hedge Coke, american indian memoir, Anna Lee Walters, Bad Indians, Blonde Indian, Bloodlines, Books and Islands, Brando Skyhorse, Choctalking on Other Realities, contemporary native arts, Crazy Brave, David Treuer, Deborah A Miranda, Diane Wilson, Ernestine Hayes, Falling Into Place, Hattie Kauffman, Janet Campbell Hale, Joy Harjo, Lakota Woman, LeAnn Howe, Leslie Marmon Silko, Linda Hogan, Louise Erdrich, Maria Tallchief, Mary Crow Dog, Miss America, modern native american memoir, Muscogee Daughter, N. Scott Momaday, NDN culture, Prima Ballerina, recommended reading list, Rez Life, Robert Mirabal, Rock Ghost Willow Deer, Skeleton of a Bridge, Spirit Car, Susan Supernaw, Take This Man, Talking Indian, The Blue Jay's Dance, The Names, The Turquoise Ledge, The Woman Who Watches Over the World

–from the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

Ours has been called “the age of memoir,” and particularly in America, the genre has been labeled “the central (literary) form of our time.” But at the same time that the publication of personal narratives has soared, critics and some readers have chastised its writers for being voyeuristic, self-indulgent or worse. Then there is the dreaded ‘nostalgic’ label, which still has at center stage, the author’s bright and shining face.

Native American or American Indian (NDN) cultures, on the other hand, value community over the individual and are deeply rooted in both the land and in a contiguous past and present. Readers who have soured on “standard” American memoir, might find storytellers from Indian Country’s broader landscapes a refreshing change.

If you want to dive into the sub-genre, I suggest that you start with N. Scott Momaday‘s The Names and then work your way through the following list according to interest: 4186SXQ737L._SL110_