American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 2 (1981) Winner
Peter Blue Cloud
ピーター・ブルー・クラウド
Peter Blue Cloud
Pen Names:
Aroniawenrate（Nickname, sometimes translated as 'Stepping across the Blue Sky' or similar）,
Coyote 2（Pen name used in poems and tales）,
Owl's Child（Alternate name used in some writings）,
Turtle's Son（Used as a name indicating Indigenous lineage）,
Kaienwaktatsie（Name used in traditional/tribal contexts）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1933-06-10 （Kahnawake (Caughnawaga Reserve), Quebec, Canada）
- Died
- 2011-04-27 （Montreal, Quebec, Canada） age 77
- Nationality
- Canadian
- Languages
- Mohawk, English, French
- Residence History
- Kahnawake (reserve) → Buffalo, New York, USA → San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA → Sierra Nevada foothills near Nevada City, California, USA → Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Career
- Occupations
- poet, folklorist, writer, carver, carpenter, editor
- Active Years
- 1950-2011
- Affiliations
- Akwesasne Notes (writer/editor), Indian Magazine (contributor)
- Influenced By
- William Shakespeare (influence via storytelling forms), Maidu elders and their storytelling traditions, Haudenosaunee storytelling traditions
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | American Book Award | Back then tomorrow | — | Before Columbus Foundation | 受賞 |
American Book Award
1981
Work:
Back then tomorrow
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Back then tomorrow
1978 short fictionA short work blending contemporary life and traditional Native perspectives, intertwining daily experience with history.
Indigenous rights and memoryContrast between tradition and modernity
Elderberry Flute Song: Contemporary Coyote Tales
1982 short tales / contemporary folkloreA collection of contemporary coyote tales that layers mythic motifs onto modern issues.
Coyote (trickster)Cultural continuitySocial commentary
The other side of nowhere: Contemporary Coyote Tales
1990 short tales / folkloreA short collection linking Indigenous storytelling with contemporary events through the figure of Coyote.
Legend and modernityIdentity
Clans of Many Nations: Selected Poems, 1969-1994
1995 poetrySelected poems from 1969 to 1994, featuring tribal imagery and personal memory.
Tribal traditionContrast of nature and cityRe-telling of history
Sketches in Winter, With Crows
1984 poetryA poetry collection weaving winter landscapes and crows, intersecting quiet nature imagery with urban experience.
Nature and lossObservation and memory
White Corn Sister
1979 playA play drawing on traditional motifs to tell stories of culture and individual lives.
TraditionWomen and community
Bibliography
- Alcatraz is not an island
- Turtle, Bear and Wolf
- Back then tomorrow
- The paranoid foothills: a work of fiction
- Clans of many nations: selected poems, 1969-1994
- Crazy Horse Monument
- Elderberry flute song: contemporary coyote tales
- The other side of nowhere: contemporary coyote tales
- Sketches in winter, with crows
- White corn sister
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Narrative, oral-tradition-influenced poetic styleFusion of myth (especially Coyote) and contemporary poetry
- Recurring Motifs
- Coyote (trickster)Natural landscapes (mountains, forests, winter)Urban and labor imagery (steel, construction)Tribal and communal memory
Legacy
Peter Blue Cloud is recognized for reworking Coyote mythology into contemporary contexts and expressing Indigenous rights and memory through poetry and tales. His American Book Award and body of work made him an important voice in North American Indigenous literature.
Trivia
- Born Peter Williams but known as Peter Blue Cloud.
- Used several pen names (Coyote 2, Owl's Child, Turtle's Son, Kaienwaktatsie).
- Participated in and lived on Alcatraz during the 1969–1971 occupation.
- Reportedly wished his ashes to be spread in Modoc country in northern California (citation needed).