Conversations with remarkable Native Americans / Joëlle Rostkowski.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 121-131) and index.

Tragic wisdom and survivance / Deborah L. Madsen -- From the forgotten American to indigenous rights / Joëlle Rostkowski -- Conversation with Gerald Vizenor, series editor, poet, novelist, and art critic -- N. Scott Momaday, poet, novelist, painter, and UNESCO artist for peace -- Suzan Harjo, policy advocate, journalist, essayist, and poet -- Richard West, lawyer and founding director of the National Museum of the American Indian -- Emil Her Many Horses, curator, National Museum of the American Indian -- Sven Haakanson, director of the Alutiiq Museum, Kodiak, Alaska -- Veronica Tiller, historian, consultant, and writer -- Erma Vizenor, tribal chair, White Earth Reservation, Minnesota -- Louisita Warren, elder of Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico -- Tony Abeyta, painter and sculptor -- David Bradley, painter and sculptor -- Darren Vigil Gray, painter and musician -- Jill Momaday, actress, model, and former chief of protocol, State of New Mexico -- Rulen Tangen, dancer and choreographer -- Robert Tim Coulter, lawyer, founder and director of the Indian Law Resource Center -- Kenneth Deer, journalist, educator, and UN indigenous representative -- United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples -- In memory of Deskaheh.

This work is a collection of interviews with some of today's most important Native Americans. In these interviews, contextualized in a national and international sociopolitical perspective, the editor, a noted ethnohistorian brings to light major developments in the Native American experience over the last thirty years. Overcoming hardships they have experienced as a forgotten minority, often torn between two cultures, these native writers, artists, journalists, activists, lawyers, and museum administrators have each made contributions toward the transformation of old stereotypes, the fight against discrimination, and the sharing of their heritage with mainstream society. Theirs is a story not so much of success but of resilience, of survival, with each interview subject having marked their time and eventually becoming the change they wanted in the world. The conversations in this volume reveal that the assertion of ethnic identity does not lead to bitterness and isolation, but rather an enthusiasm and drive toward greater visibility and recognition that at the same time aims at a greater understanding between different cultures. This collection brings forth an understanding of the Native American Renaissance.

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