Native American Novels: The Renaissance, the Homing Plot, and Beyond

Abstract

The argument could be made that the Native American Renaissance, the period labeled by Kenneth Lincoln in his 1983 text of the same name and marking the increase in positive critical responses to and popularity of Native American literature, began with a novel. I refer specifically to Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday’s House Made of Dawn, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1969. Lincoln’s text describes the increased output of critical work engaging with Native American literature during the late 1970s. Certainly, Momaday’s receipt of the Pulitzer put not only him, but also other Native authors on critics’ radar.1 In any event, Native American literature’s rise has certainly rested on the back of its novels to a large extent. Indeed, while prominent authors including Native literature’s most prominent presence, Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d’Alene), might think of themselves as writers broadly or poets primarily, their prose, and especially their novels, are especially visible. None of this is meant to take away from other genres of Native literary production or Native art generally, of course. It simply signals the realities of literary consumption right now.