James Welch

From NativeWiki

James Welch (1940–August 4, 2003), born in Browning, Montana, was an award-winning U.S. author and poet.<ref name="IC"> - Acclaimed author James Welch dies URL last accessed July 11, 2007.</ref> His father was a member of the Blackfeet tribe and his mother a member of the Gros Ventre tribe. <ref name="IC"/> Welch was given the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal and full knighthood, by France in recognition of his contributions to French culture.<ref name="IC"/>

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Publications 2.1 Novels 3 Nonfiction 3.1 Poetry 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Early life and career

He attended schools on the Blackfoot and Fort Belknap reservations. Welch then went to the University of Montana, where he studied under Richard Hugo,<ref name="WASH"> - History and Literature in the Pacific Northwest URL last accessed July 17, 2007 </ref> and then to Montana State University - Northern at Havre, before earning his B.A. from the University of Montana. Welch taught at the University of Washington and at Cornell, as well as serving on the Parole Board of the Montana Prisons Systems and on the Board of Directors of the Newberry Library D'Arcy McNickle Center.<ref name="nah"> - James Treat: Writing the Cross Culture URL last accessed July 17, 2007.</ref>

It was at the University of Montana that he found his knack for writing, becoming a crucial member of what is known as the Native American Renaissance.<ref name="MK"> - James Welch, Native American Author URL last accessed on July 11, 2007</ref> Welch published many books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. His poems often evoked the bleakest side of contemporary Native American life. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature from the Native Writers’ Circle in 1997 for his excellence in Blackfeet/Gros Ventre Novelist and Poet. Winter in the Blood and Fools Crow received the L.A. Times Book Prize and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers' Award. Welch and Paul Stekler co-wrote the Emmy Award-winning American Experience documentary, Last Stand at Little Bighorn,<ref name="al"> - Albris.com URL last accessed July 11, 2007</ref> and together published the 1994 history Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians. Welch died at age 62 in his home in Missoula, Montana.<ref name="mi"> - Writer James Welch dies at 62 URL last accessed July 11, 2007</ref>

Publications

Novels

• Winter in the Blood (1974)
• The Death of Jim Loney (1979)
• Fools Crow (1986)
• The Indian Lawyer (1990)
• The Heartsong of Charging Elk (2000)

Nonfiction

• Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians

Poetry

• Riding the Earthboy 40
• Last Stand at Little Bighorn

See also

• List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
• Native American Renaissance
• Native American Studies

References

External links

• Bibliographical essay on Welch