The 50th Anniversary of the First Novel by a Native American to Win the Pulitzer Prize
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
We should all be talking about N. Scott Momaday right now.
Why right now, you ask? Well, for one thing, the pioneering Kiowa writer just turned eighty-five years old. For another, Words From a Bear—a documentary examining his life, writings, and enigmatic mind—just premiered at Sundance. Perhaps most importantly though, 2019 marks fifty years since House Made of Dawn, Momaday’s spellbinding debut novel, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The win made Momaday the first Native American recipient of a Pulitzer, in any category, in the then-fifty-two-year history of the award, and helped launch what became known as the “Native American Renaissance”—a nationwide emergence (as well as a rediscovery and wider recognition) of Native art and literature in a wide variety of forms. (Other writers typically associated with this movement include Leslie Marmon Silko, Joy Harjo, Simon J. Ortiz, and Louise Erdrich, to list just a few.)
Momaday—a novelist, short story writer, essayist, poet, and academic—has devoted his life to preserving the Native American oral and cultural traditions, in part by educating students and the wider public about sacred places and practices. He was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace and an Oklahoma poet laureate; given the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas; honored with the 2007 National Medal of Arts for “introducing millions worldwide to the essence of Native American culture”; and will, on May 1 of this year, receive the Ken Burns American Heritage Prize at a ceremony in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
As for House Made of Dawn itself, the book began as a series of poems and eventually morphed into a lyrical novel about a young man named Abel who returns to his New Mexico reservation after fighting in WWII and tries to reconnect with the values and traditions instilled in him by his grandfather, but finds himself emotionally severed from this previous life, caught between two different worlds. It’s an incredibly powerful, moving tale, which has been widely praised for its humane characterization, intricate construction, and evocative detailing of Indian life.
Below, to mark the anniversary, we take a look back at two reviews—one classic, one contemporary—of this iconic novel.
“This first novel, as subtly wrought as a piece of Navajo silverware, is the work of a young Kiowa Indian who teaches English and writes poetry at the University of California in Santa Barbara … It is the old story of the problem of mixing Indians and Anglos. But there is a quality of revelation here as the author presents the heartbreaking effort of his hero to live in two worlds … Young Abel comes back to San Isidro to resume the ancient ways of his beloved long-haired grandfather, Francisco. Abel is full of fears that he has relaxed his hold on these ways, after living like an Anglo in the Army. He is our tortured guide as we see his Indian world of pollen and rain, of houses made of dawn, of feasts and rituals to placate the gods, of orchards and patches of melons and grapes and squash, of beautiful colors and marvelous foods such as pike, pose, loaves of sotobalau, roasted mutton and fried bread. It is a winless ‘world of wonder and exhilarating vastness.’
“Abel’s troubles begin at once. He has a brief and lyrical love affair with a white woman from California seeking some sort of truth at San Isidro. Then he runs afoul of Anglo jurisprudence, which has no laws covering Pueblo ethics. He is paroled to a Los Angeles relocation center and copes for a time with that society, night Anglo nor Indian. He attends peyote sessions; he tries to emulate his Navajo roommate, who almost accepts the glaring lights and treadmill jobs, the ugliness of the city and the Anglo yearning to own a Cadillac. Abel cannot ‘almost’ cope. Because of his contempt, a sadistic cop beats him nearly to death. But he gets home in time to carry on the tradition of his dying grandfather. There is plenty of haze in the telling of this tale—but that is one reason why it rings so true. The mysteries of cultures different from our own cannot be explained a short novel, even by an artist as talented as Mr. Momaday.”
–Marshall Sprague, The New York Times, June 9, 1968
“Momaday maintains an economy of language throughout the novel, from the first chapter of only 307 words until the final, 185th page. He weaves together stories, details, and experiences from the Bahkyush, Kiowa, and Navajo traditions, with references to Roman Catholic and white American culture. Many of the novel’s characters were inspired by real or historical figures. Much of Abel’s pain comes from feeling like an outsider, what the author himself called ‘psychic dislocation’: the pain of being a Native American man in Los Angeles, far from his grandfather and from the life-giving, world-sustaining traditions of his home at Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico. Abel has survived the front lines of World War II, and, after his return to the United States, he struggles with depression and alcoholism. He spends time in prison. He attempts to heal. While others have pointed out that Momaday, with his short, terse sentences and journalistic style, echoes Ernest Hemingway, perhaps that is simply another way of comparing the unfamiliar to the already familiar, of bestowing value without questioning our values themselves. Abel’s story is radically transformed by his identity as a man of Native American heritage, and by the author’s poetic sensibility, a style that manifests as physical lyricism and that owes its success to the oral storytelling so important to Native American writers in general and to Momaday in particular, himself a member of the Kiowan Tribe.
…
“Used properly, categories in literature can illuminate a work instead of mystifying it—if we use them like filters on spotlights, layered colors and hues, combinations of light and shadow, we can examine a book from many different angles, holding various versions of it in our minds, without losing sight of the work itself. House Made of Dawn is both a masterpiece about the universal human condition and a masterpiece of Native American literature … House Made of Dawn is both a beautiful artistic object, a book everyone should read for the joy and emotion of the language it contains, and an important milestone in the publishing industry’s recognition of Native American voices. Making whole what’s been divided creates peace. That’s true for people, and it’s true for books.
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Another great book by M. Scott is a collection of essays, stories and passages entitled "The Man Made of Words"
What a great author - his poetry is outstanding and brings you right into his web of enticement.
Have done Google search and, quite honestly, can't find any other Native American who has won the Pulitzer - but I'm sure there are.
When I read his words, what went through my mind is that he "paints" with his words and phrases, they create visions. Absolutely amazing use of the language - bringing it to life. He is not only an author, but an artist as well.
Dear Friend 1st Warrior: Thanks so much for sharing this.
As it it written in the Talmud, "Who is the wise person? One who learns from all people".
You, and through you Mr. Momday give us an opportunity to learn.
We are the better off for it.
P&AB.
Enoch.
Here is an excerpt from one of this authors books, "The Names"
Beautiful writing.
Beautiful choices John - Thanks.
THE NAMES AT FIRST are those of animals and of birds, of objects that have one definition in the eye, another in the hand, of forms and features on the rim of the world, or of sounds that carry on the bright wind and in the void.
The imagery in that sentence covers so very much ground.
Mr. Momaday has always been one of my very favorite writers.
His character, Abel, reminds me of another Indian that returned from WWII, Ira Hayes...
Kudos once again to Mr. Momaday.
Side note....Louise Erdrich book, ''Plague of Doves'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
If Erdrich was only a finalist for the Pulitzer, who was the winner? Hemingway?
Never read the novel, but the HBO movie Olive Kitteridge, based on the novel, was outstanding. One of the best things I've ever seen on tv, actually.
I assume the book was excellent as well.
You are right Kavika, this is a great article and Mr Momaday's words seem more true, the more thought I give them.
Dave - don't give the words "thought" - just feel them and you'll enjoy and see more.
You know, really, there is a little bit o familiarity to House Made of Dawn seems close to home.
1st, great article, I am glad you posted it.
John, the quotes are appreciated.
Yes, the quotes John posted were a gift.
Glad we got it.
I just learned something today. I have never read any of F. Scott Momaday's works. Now I am going to put some time aside to read 'House Made of Dawn". Can't be a bad place to start.
Thanks for this great article 1st!
Luv the coyote/Trickster
Reminds me of a few folks I know here
Not mentioned in the thread is that Mr. Momaday also was awarded the "Premio Letterario Internazionale 'Mondello'" - Italy's highest literary award.
As mentioned in the article will receive the Ken Burns Heritage Award.
Here is a little about the award and what it takes to be chosen for the great honor.
AMERICAN INDIAN AUTHOR N. SCOTT MOMADAY WINS KEN BURNS AMERICAN HERITAGE PRIZE
Momaday is the recipient of the 2019 Ken Burns American Heritage Prize
Published January 8, 2019
BOZEMAN, Mont. — American Prairie Reserve is proud to announce that Kiowa novelist, essayist, and poet N. Scott Momaday, Ph.D., has been named the recipient of the 2019 Ken Burns American Heritage Prize . The award will be presented May 1, 2019, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The evening’s festivities will include remarks by Ken Burns, Dr. N. Scott Momaday, Meryl Streep, the 2019 Chair of the National Jury Dawn Arnall, and American Prairie Reserve CEO Alison Fox.
Named in honor of America’s most revered visual historian and filmmaker, the Ken Burns American Heritage Prize recognizes individuals whose achievements have advanced our collective understanding of America’s heritage and the indomitable American spirit of our people. Nominees for the annual Prize consist of visionary artists, authors, educators, filmmakers, historians, and scientists. The candidates are chosen by a National Jury of distinguished leaders who represent communities across the country and share a common appreciation of America’s heritage.
“It’s a privilege to lend my name to a Prize honoring individuals whose accomplishments reinforce the nation’s understanding of all that is possible. Scott Momaday has spent his life introducing the world to Native American culture through literature that has elevated our collective consciousness about what it means to be indigenous in the United States.” – Ken Burns
Dr. Momaday is a Kiowa novelist, short-story writer, essayist and poet. His novel House Made of Dawn was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, and is considered the first major work of the Native American Renaissance. Momaday was a founding Trustee of the National Museum of the American Indian, holds 21 honorary degrees from colleges and universities around the world and received the National Medal of Arts in 2007.
“I am truly honored to be named the recipient of the 2019 Ken Burns American Heritage Prize and left speechless by this recognition. The prairie is a landscape of great clarity and has had extraordinary meaning in my life. None of us lives apart from the land entirely and I am deeply concerned about conservation. I fully support American Prairie Reserve’s remarkable and courageous effort to preserve a disappearing landscape that is sacred to so many Native Americans.” – Dr. N. Scott Momaday
American Prairie Reserve, which created the Prize, is a modern-day embodiment of America’s optimistic and boundless approach to accomplishing the unprecedented — in this case, by creating the largest nature reserve in the continental United States, located on the Great Plains of northeastern Montana.
21 Honourary Degrees!!!!
Dear Brother Kavika: We are indebted to N. Scott Momaday for his literary contributions.
His writings bring to us the sagacity and perspective of those who lived and built in this land for many thousands of years.
As it is written in the book of a prophet, "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths. Where is the good way? Walk in it and find rest for your soul". (Jeremiah 6:16).
P&AB.
Enoch.