Description
The People and the Word: Reading Native Nonfiction written by Osage scholar Robert Warrior offers readers a look at Native American nonfiction writing. Taking four distinct pieces of prose, Warrior asks readers to journey through these ancient trade routes to locate the foundation for Aboriginal Peoples' intellectual work. From the 1830s autobiographical writing of Pequot intellectual William Apess, the Osage Constitution of 1881, the writings of boarding school pupils, and an essay by N. Scott Momaday, the author makes the case for an enduring tradition of nonfiction writings. The third chapter, The Work of Indian Pupils: Narratives of Learning in Native American Literature, brings new light to the works of American Indian writers who experienced the boarding school or residential school system of the United States. This is a fascinating look at the writings of Native Americans as they engaged in offering prose works to the general public of their times.