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Joseph Bruchac

ジョセフ・ブルチャック

Joseph Bruchac

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1942-10-16 （Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S.）
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Saratoga Springs, New York (birthplace) → Porter Corners, Greenfield, New York, U.S.

Career

Occupations
Writer, Educator, Storyteller, Musician
Active Years
1971-
Affiliations
Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers (founding member), Greenfield Review Literary Center / Greenfield Review Press (co-founder), Vermont College of Fine Arts (visiting faculty/affiliation)
Memberships
Nulhegan Abenaki Nation (state-recognized group; publicly affiliated)
Influenced By
Abenaki and Northeastern Native oral traditions, N. Scott Momaday, Vine Deloria, Jr.
Influenced
Later Native and Native-identifying writers and storytellers in the Northeast, Collaborators and younger family writers (e.g., his son Jim Bruchac)

Education

Cornell University
English
Degree: BA
Period: 1961–1965
Year of Graduation: 1965
Country: United States
Was a varsity heavyweight wrestler
Syracuse University
Literature and Creative Writing
Degree: MA
Period: 1965–1966
Year of Graduation: 1966
Country: United States
Union Institute & University
Comparative Literature
Degree: PhD
Period: 1970–1974
Year of Graduation: 1974
Country: United States

Awards

Native Writers' Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award
1999
Organization: Native Writers' Circle of the Americas
Result: 受賞
Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature
1996
Organization: New York Library Association
Result: 受賞
Carter G. Woodson Book Award
2005
Work: Jim Thorpe's Bright Path
Organization: National Council for the Social Studies
Result: 受賞
American Book Award (as editor, Breaking Silence)
Work: Breaking Silence (editor)
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: 受賞
Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship
Result: 受賞/受給
National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship (Poetry)
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: 受賞/受給
Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year & Storyteller of the Year
1998
Organization: Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers
Result: 受賞
Cherokee Nation Prose Award
Organization: Cherokee Nation
Result: 受賞
Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Dawn Land

1993 Historical novel (pre-contact)

A historical novel set in the Northeastern woodlands before European contact, following a young Abenaki man.

Indigenous identityLiving with natureOral tradition
Adaptations
  • [Graphic adaptation (adaptation/art by Will Davis)] Dawn Land (adaptation) (2010)

Long River

1995 Historical novel (sequel)

Sequel to Dawn Land, continuing the story of the young protagonist and community life.

Coming of ageCommunityTradition

Killer of Enemies

2013 Young adult / fiction with speculative elements

A young adult novel drawing on Indigenous themes, exploring tensions between tradition and modernity.

Tradition vs. modernityYouth empowerment

Code Talker

2006 Historical novel (World War II)

A novel about Navajo code talkers of World War II, blending military history and personal narrative.

WarLanguage and identity

Keepers of the Earth

1988 Children's book / Native stories with environmental activities

A children's series combining Native stories with environmental activities for education.

Environmental educationTraditional knowledge

Bibliography

  • Indian Mountain, and Other Poems (1971)
  • The Road to Black Mountain: A Novel (1976)
  • Keepers of the Earth (with Michael J. Caduto, 1988)
  • Dawn Land: A Novel (1993)
  • Long River: A Novel (1995)
  • Jim Thorpe's Bright Path (2004)
  • Code Talker: a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two (2006)
  • Killer of Enemies (2013)
  • Peace Maker (2021)

Adaptations

  • Dawn Land adaptation/art by Will Davis (2010)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Plain, narrative prose influenced by oral storytellingAccessible, didactic style in children's booksConcise, image-focused language in poetry
Recurring Motifs
Nature and landscapeIndigenous traditions and ritualsIntergenerational storytelling

Legacy

Joseph Bruchac has been a major voice in bringing Northeastern Indigenous stories and culture to wider audiences as a writer and storyteller. Through editorial work and education he helped many Native writers publish and contributed to transmission of oral traditions; his claimed ancestry has also been subject to public dispute.

Academic Societies

  • Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers
  • Native Writers' Circle of the Americas

Archives

  • Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library: Joseph Bruchac Papers
  • Library of Congress holdings (multiple catalog records)

In Popular Culture

  • Performance activity with family as The Dawnland Singers
  • Educational influence through storytelling sessions and school/library workshops

Trivia

  • Was a varsity heavyweight wrestler at Cornell University.
  • Volunteered as a teacher in Ghana from 1966 to 1969.
  • Has published more than 120 books (including collaborations and edited volumes).
  • Co-founded Greenfield Review Press with his late wife Carol Bruchac.
  • Holds black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and karate and teaches martial arts classes.