Picture of author.

N. Scott Momaday (1934–2024)

Author of House Made of Dawn

39+ Works 3,915 Members 61 Reviews 10 Favorited

About the Author

Navarre Scott Momaday was born on February 27, 1934 in Lawton, Okla. to Kiowa parents who successfully bridged the gap between Native American and white ways, but remained true to their heritage. Momaday attended the University of New Mexico and earned an M.A and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in show more 1963. A member of the Gourd Dance Society of the Kiowa Tribe, Momaday has received a plethora of writing accolades, including the Academy of American Poets prize for The Bear and the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for House Made of Dawn. He also shared the Western Heritage Award with David Muench in 1974 for the nonfiction book Colorado: Summer/Fall/Winter/Spring, and he is the author of the film adaptation of Frank Water's novel, The Man Who Killed the Deer. His work, The Names is composed of tribal tales, boyhood memories, and family histories. Another book, The Way to Rainy Mountain, melds myth, history, and personal recollection into a Kiowa tribe narrative. Throughout his writings, Momaday celebrate his Kiowa Native American heritage in structure, theme, and subject matter, often dealing with the man-nature relationship as a central theme and sustaining the Indian oral tradition. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Library of Congress

Works by N. Scott Momaday

House Made of Dawn (1968) 1,924 copies
The Way to Rainy Mountain (1969) 852 copies
The Ancient Child (1989) 239 copies
The Names: A Memoir (1976) 168 copies
In the Bear's House (1999) 71 copies
The Gourd Dancer: [Poems] (1976) 27 copies
Gifts of pride and love : Kiowa and Comanche cradles (2001) — Introduction — 24 copies

Associated Works

Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 915 copies
The Best American Essays of the Century (2000) — Contributor — 774 copies
American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau (2008) — Contributor — 414 copies
The Portable Sixties Reader (2002) — Contributor — 324 copies
Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes (2006) — Contributor — 281 copies
Native American Stories (Myths and Legends) (1991) — Foreword — 274 copies
Ants, Indians, and little dinosaurs (1975) — Contributor — 191 copies
Talking Leaves: Contemporary Native American Short Stories (1991) — Contributor — 189 copies
Growing Up Native American (1993) — Contributor — 169 copies
American Religious Poems: An Anthology (2006) — Contributor — 162 copies
Voice of the Turtle: American Indian Literature, 1900-1970 (1994) — Contributor — 127 copies
Earth Song, Sky Spirit (1993) — Contributor — 67 copies
Song of the Turtle: American Indian Literature 1974-1994 (1996) — Contributor — 60 copies
Sacred Images: A Vision of Native American Rock Art (1996) — Foreword, some editions — 43 copies
Summer: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (2005) — Contributor — 37 copies
Wonders: Writings and Drawings for the Child in Us All (1980) — Contributor — 18 copies
The Complete Poems of Frederick Goddard Tuckerman (1965) — Editor — 13 copies
Love Can Be: A Literary Collection about Our Animals (2018) — Contributor — 7 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

While evocative of a mythopoeic beginning of the Kiowa ancestral history, the narrative didn't flow very clearly. There were confusing passages that seemed to repeat earlier histories but set later in time. However these drawbacks didn't obscure the strong imagery of these peoples lives and the very real journey taken to arrive in the southern plains. This story also provided reminiscences of Momaday's childhood and memories of a beloved grandmother and a livelihood lost in a modern world.
½
 
Flagged
SandyAMcPherson | 11 other reviews | Mar 7, 2024 |
Reason read: Pulitzer winner
This book, by Native American author N. Scott Momaday, won the Pulitzer in 1969. This author is described as the author who opened literature for Native American authors and he is listed as the inspiration for Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, as several other Native American Authors. This is the story of a returning WWII vet to his reservation and the struggles to fit in. The theme is alienation. The book started as poetry, then stories and morphed into a novel and it reads as if it doesn't quite fit any form. The title is a reference to the land and its people. I did not enjoy this book. Rating 3.2… (more)
 
Flagged
Kristelh | 35 other reviews | Nov 8, 2023 |
Very cool format. On the left page there is a Kiowa story or legend, on the top of the facing page is a historical context for the story/legend, and below that is a personal recollection of the author's that ties in to either the story or the land.

I liked the stories, but my favorite parts were his personal recollections and descriptions of the land. It made me want to go to the Plains, Oklahoma, and Rainy Mountain immediately, to see if I could feel something as powerful as he describes.… (more)
 
Flagged
blueskygreentrees | 11 other reviews | Jul 30, 2023 |
This 1969 Pulitzer winning novel reads like an epic poem and its descriptions of the New Mexican landscape are so vivid you can almost feel like you're there. But, for me, whatever other merits it might have are overshadowed by the lifeless portrayal of its female characters.
 
Flagged
wandaly | 35 other reviews | Jul 16, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
39
Also by
39
Members
3,915
Popularity
#6,465
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
61
ISBNs
130
Languages
7
Favorited
10

Charts & Graphs