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I learned about the author of House Made of Dawn on an “American Masters”
documentary, “Words from a Bear” that portrayed him as a voice of Native American
Renaissance in art and literature, which led to a breakthrough of Native American literature
into the mainstream. Like many Americans, my awareness of the Native American was
raised by historian Dee Brown’s 1970 best-selling book, “Bury my Heart at Wounded
Knee,” which told about the massacre of several hundred Lakota Indians (mostly women and
children) by soldiers of the U.S. Army. Scott Momaday was brought up around places I’d
lived and worked in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona, and this book received a
Pulitzer Prize for Literature.
The main character, Abel, has come home to New Mexico from war only to find himself
caught between two worlds. The one world is modern and industrial, claiming his soul and
leading him into a destructive, compulsive cycle of depravity and despair. The author
expresses a wariness of the white man’s world and language:
On every side of him, there are words by the millions, an unending succession of pamphlets and papers, letters
and books, bills and bulletins, commentaries and conversations. He has diluted and multiplied the Word, and
words have begun to close in upon him. He is sated and insensitive; his regard for language—for the World
itself—as an instrument of creation has diminished nearly to the point of no return. It may be that he will perish
by the Word.
In contrast, his grandfather would orient him to the rhythm of the seasons, the harsh beauty of the Southwest, and the
ancient rites and traditions of his people.
These things he told his grandsons carefully, slowly and at length, because they were old and true, and they
could be lost forever as easily as one generation is lost to the next, as easily as on old man might lose his
voice….And he knew they knew, (his grandsons) and he took them with him to the fields and they cut open the
earth and touched the corn and ate sweet melons in the sun.
Considered by some as the “dean” of Native American writers, Momaday was proficient in fiction, poetry, painting and
printmaking. He used his familiarity with both Native American life and legend as well as the modern world, building a
bridge between the two.
The New York Times Book Review found this book, “as subtly wrought as a piece of Navajo silverware.” And I’d
agree with the critique of this book from The Paris Review, “both a masterpiece about the universal human condition
and a masterpiece of Native American literature.”
Walker was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala and spent over forty years helping
disadvantaged people in the developing world. He came to Phoenix as a Senior Director for Food
for the Hungry, worked with other groups like Make a Wish International and was the CEO of
Hagar USA, a Christian-based organization that supports survivors of human trafficking.
Several of his articles have been published in Ragazine and WorldView Magazines while another
appeared in Crossing Class: The Invisible Wall, an anthology published by Wising Up Press. His
reviews have been published by Revue Magazine as well as Peace Corps Worldwide,
including one on Paul Theroux’s latest book, Figures in a Landscape.
His honors include the "Service Above Self" award from Rotary International. His wife and three
children were born in Guatemala.
His book, Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, was recognized by the Arizona Authors Association for nonfiction and according to the Midwest Review, “. . . is more than just another travel memoir. It is an engaged and engaging story of one man’s physical and spiritual journey of self-discovery . . .” You can learn more at www.MillionMileWalker.com
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