I'm only asking here. A novel that focuses mainly on the native americans and where the whites, if they occur at all, are not necessarily the main players. Like Lonesome dove or Little Big Man. Western epics but seen from a white perspective. I don't know american literature that well that i can have an answer so i ask you. Earlier it might have been impossible to write it but with a little more time and perspective there ought to be something. Or is it still adventure stories and not much more? Not that I have anything against adventure stories, they can be fun reads. If there is i'll be glad for a tip.
The Great Native American novel. Does it exist?
- Thread starter Kurben
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Ive read The Last Mohican but i think there ought to be more (and yes also better) by now. Cooper wrote a long time ago and his best, like Mohican, was good but ,according to me, never really close to great. If it is still the best then there is room for many books. A man called Horse was a good movie. Didnt know it was a book. Thanks!
Dorothy Johnson, my pleasure. Haven't read it myself, will try and get a copy.
Flight by Sherman Alexie sounds interesting. Got time travel in it as well.
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee. It's not fiction but, if you want to understand the heart of the American Indian, this is it.
Not exactly what you are looking for, but Louise Erdrich is a wonderful author who writes about the contemporary American Indian experience.
Louise Erdrich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Louise Erdrich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Great book, I agree. Since then i have read many good factbooks about the American Indian and that made me think that this interest ought to have spawned some good and great novels too.
Thanks! I had never heard of her. Might be worth looking in to. I shall look for her.
My mom published a novel called Navajo Red - Paula Eldridge. I'm not sure if I can promote her book here but it is a good historical romance.
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne. Not fiction but quite an eye opener.
The prose really soars in places.
The prose really soars in places.
....I would comment that this is an underserved/underpopulated niche of literature because most any of these fictional novels were written from, as you say, by a non Native American-who wouldn't have a clue about the actual lifestyle or spiritualism of "the people".....a quick search for "Native American Novels", revealed not ONE author with a native American name.....sadly, it appears that non-fiction accounts might get you slightly better results, or at least less skewed ones....also, Zane Grey did what I feel were fair accounts in his writings and Cooper?....romance style or not, got some things right as I look back down the shadowy halls of my reading history....
Kurben - this is not a novel as such, Rainbow Tribe: Ordinary People Journeying on the Red Road by Ed McGaa. It is used in many Native American study courses. Excellent insight into NA ways.
Not much fiction by Native Americans about classic traditions, or even from NA perspective. Even books like A Man Called Horse or Dances With Wolves, or Thirteen Moons (a favorite of mine) which deal with native life and customs, are from a white perspective looking in. Maybe it's because NA tradition is mainly oral? There are more contemporary NA authors. Sherman Alexis is my personal favorite of those.
I love Louise Erdrich!
As far as the great American novel goes: I think that would be hard to pick just one. I'd try to narrow it down to generations. Even that will be hard, but I'll think on this for a while. While I'm at the pool today. Between naps and reading, this will be a good mind game. 1 book for each decade.
Oh wait: I just noticed - it's the great Native American Novel you're asking about:
But I'll proceed with my mind game just for fun. After more coffee.
I did not like Last of the Mohican. I was bored the entire book.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Not fiction.
I recall reading a novel in middle school called When the Legends Die. It was written by Hal Borland and published in 1963. The story concerns a young Ute named Tom Black Bull, chronicling his early childhood living in the wilderness of southern Colorado, his rough time as an orphan at a reservation school, his success as a rodeo rider, and eventually coming full circle with his return to his old home. I think I may have shed a few tears at spots.