American Indian Authors: Make Sure Your Guide Knows Where He’s From

American Indian Authors

American Indian Authors

I am told that you cannot lead another down a path you haven’t traveled. Yet, for one hundred years, at least, material written by academic entities after observing us for some period of time or examining the gravesites of ancestors was used to identify who we are, how we live and what we believe.

The problem is no Tribal Elders were approached and asked about these things, so all these periodicals and the resulting media representations were through the limited understanding of who we really are and the life we lived. The authors had never traveled down our path. They were inaccurate to say the least, and far too frequently committed character assassination.

In my journey of rediscovery it became critical to me to find American Indian authors writing from their own experience about how we lived and what we believed.

If you are interested in gaining a more accurate perspective of who we are and of our culture there are many Native authors listed on the internet. There are also books written by authors who aren’t Native, but who realize that what had been presented as historical information was not accurate and wanted to correct the error. So there are non-native authors whose material represents honest, accurate accounts. Among my favorites is my friend, Kent Nerburn, who wrote Neither Wolf nor Dog and The Wolf at Twilight.

For a broad selection of how American Indians are portrayed by ourselves and by others one only needs to click Native Publications and Websites or American Indians in the Movies.

I have recorded the observations of my own life and walk in Dancing My Dream. My book is a response to hundreds of years of ignorance and willful misinformation practiced against our people. Dancing my Dream can be purchased through the link to the left, or through Amazon.com.

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