Conversations with Remarkable Native Americans

In these lively and informative interviews, noted ethnohistorian and international consultant Joëlle Rostkowski brings to light major developments in the Native American experience over the last thirty years. Overcoming hardships they have experienced as the "forgotten" minority, often torn between two cultures, these prominent native writers, artists, journalists, activists, lawyers, and museum administrators each have made remarkable contributions towards the transformation of old stereotypes, the fight against discrimination, and the sharing of their heritage with mainstream society.

Theirs is a story not so much of success but of resilience, of survivance, with each interview subject having marked their time and eventually becoming the change they wanted in the world. The conversations in this volume reveal that the assertion of ethnic identity does not lead to bitterness and isolation, but rather an enthusiasm and drive toward greater visibility and recognition that at the same time aims at a greater understanding between different cultures. Conversations with Remarkable Native Americans rewards the reader with a deeper understanding of the Native American Renaissance.

Autorentext

Joëlle Rostkowski is an ethnohistorian who teaches at the School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences in Paris. She is also a consultant at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Her books include The Incomplete Conversion: North American Indians and Christianity and Native American Renaissance: A Century of Reconquests, winner of the 2002 French Academy History Prize.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE. Tragic wisdom and survivance
DEBORAH L. MADSEN

INTRODUCTION. From forgotten Americans to Indigenous rights
JOËLLE ROSTKOWSKI

PROLOGUE. Conversation with Gerald Vizenor, series editor, poet, novelist, and art critic

1. N. Scott Momaday, poet, novelist, painter, and UNESCO Artist for Peace

2. Suzan Harjo, policy advocate, journalist, essayist, and poet

3. Richard West, lawyer and founding director of the National Museum of the American Indian

4. Emil Her Many Horses, curator, National Museum of the American Indian

5. Sven Haakanson, director of the Alutiiq Museum, Kodiak, Alaska

6. Veronica Tiller, historian, consultant, and writer

7. Erma Vizenor, tribal chair, White Earth Reservation, Minnesota

8. Louisita Warren, elder of Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico

9. Tony Abeyta, painter and sculptor

10. David Bradley, painter and sculptor

11. Darren Vigil Gray, painter and musician

12. E. Jill Momaday, actress, model, and former chief of protocol, state of New Mexico

13. Rulan Tangen, dancer and choreographer

14. Robert Tim Coulter, lawyer, founder, and director of the Indian Law Resource Center

15. Kenneth Deer, journalist, educator, and UN Indigenous representative

16. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

    EPILOGUE. In memory of Deskaheh

    NOTES
    SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
    INDEX OF PEOPLE
    GENERAL INDEX