Joseph Bruchac
Joseph Bruchac
Joseph Bruchacis a writer of books relating to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a particular focus on northeastern Native American and Anglo-American lives and folklore. He has published poetry, novels, and short stories. Bruchac is from Saratoga Springs, New York, and is of Abenaki, English, and Slovak ethnicity. Among his works are the novel Dawn Landand its sequel, Long River, which feature a young Abenaki man before European contact...
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth16 October 1942
became books elders indian involved listened nations native poetry publishing review small sought teenage tribal work
From my teenage years on, I sought out Native elders from many tribal nations and listened to their words. I also started a small press, The Greenfield Review Press, and became very involved with publishing the work of other American Indian authors, especially books of poetry.
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The special skills necessary for being a storyteller are really very simple. I actually talked about them in a book of mine called 'Tell Me a Tale.' Those basic skills are to listen, to observe, to remember, and to share.
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I don't recall exactly when I first began reading about Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery, but I suspect that it was in fourth grade.
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I often find myself unsatisfied with books 'about' Indians because they are written from the viewpoint of non-Indians.
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I'm inspired by many different things. Often, I'm inspired by experiences I've had, books I've read, people I've met, stories I've heard.
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At a time when Europeans already had a long history of violent contact with Native people, Lewis and Clark made most of their journey in peace.
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Every year, I travel extensively in the autumn and the spring. I set most of the winter and summer aside for my family and my own tribal relatives. But during that traveling time, I often find myself visiting other native communities around the continent - perhaps a dozen or more each year.
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The Trail of Tears should teach all of us the importance of respect for others who are different from ourselves and compassion for those who have difficulties.
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The Trail of Tears has a great deal of meaning for every person of American Indian ancestry, whether they are Cherokee or not. For me, it has always stood for what is best and worst about the history of the United States.
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The Cherokees tried to do everything within the law and wished only to live in peace on their own lands. Yet they were cheated out of their birthright and treated as if they were less than human.
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Guilt can make you doubt yourself at the very moment when you need to proceed with certainty.
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When the Lakota leader Sitting Bull was asked by a white reporter why his people loved and respected him, Sitting Bull replied by asking if it was not true that among white people a man is respected because he has many horses, many houses? When the reporter replied that was indeed true, Sitting Bull then said that his people respected him because he kept nothing for himself.
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Do we make ourselves into what we become or is it built into our genes, into the fate spun for us by whatever shapes events?
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As long as we can remember them, our families will always be with us.