The acclaimed Kiowa writer, poet, and artist N. Scott Momaday has passed. His 1968 novel House Made of Dawn was the first by a Native American writer to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize, Momaday’s influence has only grown over the generations. From the article:
“Scott was an extraordinary person and an extraordinary poet and writer. He was a singular voice in American literature, and it was an honor and a privilege to work with him,” Momaday’s editor, Jennifer Civiletto, said in a statement. “His Kiowa heritage was deeply meaningful to him and he devoted much of his life to celebrating and preserving Native American culture, especially the oral tradition.”
Momaday’s writing and his understanding of the power of story in our lives has influenced so many of us. All honor to this visionary elder of literature, culture, and life. Please read his words, his stories.
“We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine, at least, completely, who and what, and that we are. The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined.”
“You see, I am alive, I am alive
I stand in good relation to the earth
I stand in good relation to the gods
I stand in good relation to all that is beautiful
I stand in good relation to the daughter of Tsen-tainte
You see, I am alive, I am alive”