N. Scott Momaday
N. Scott Momaday
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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N. Scott Momaday is commonly known by his pen name, N. Scott Momaday. His full birth name is Nario Scott Momaday.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born on February 25, 1934, in Lawton, Oklahoma, Momaday's passing was reported to be in 2023 (exactly at the end of this bio).
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Momaday is a Native American author, poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and professor. His nationality is Kiowa.
Early Life and Background
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Growing up on the Kiowa Reservation in Oklahoma, Momaday's childhood was influenced by his family's rich cultural heritage. He learned about storytelling and poetry from his mother, who was a strong advocate for preserving their tribe's traditions. After graduating from Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, he went on to earn his BA from the University of New Mexico (1958) and later an MA from Stanford University (1960). Momaday spent several years teaching at various institutions before moving to Arizona State University.
Major Accomplishments
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Momaday's writing career took off with the publication of The Way to Rainy Mountain in 1969, a memoir that explores his family history and Kiowa culture. This book is considered one of his most important works and established him as a leading voice for Native American literature. His novel House Made of Dawn, published in 1968, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969.
Notable Works or Actions
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His work has not only contributed to Native American literature but also expanded the understanding of the human experience. Some notable works include:
_The Way to Rainy Mountain_ (1969)
_House Made of Dawn_ (1968)
_The Names: A Memoir_ (1976)
_In the Presence of the Sun_ (1992)
Momaday has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to literature, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1969. He was also awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2014.
Impact and Legacy
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N. Scott Momaday's work has had a profound impact on American literature and beyond. His dedication to preserving Native American culture and traditions has inspired generations of writers, artists, and scholars. By weaving together stories from his family's past with contemporary themes, he opened up new avenues for exploring the human condition.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Momaday is widely quoted and remembered for his powerful storytelling ability, which weaves together elements of Kiowa mythology, history, and everyday life. His writing style has been praised by critics and readers alike for its lyricism and authenticity.
Quotes by N. Scott Momaday
I am interested in the way that we look at a given landscape and take possession of it in our blood and brain. None of us lives apart from the land entirely; such an isolation is unimaginable.
There was a time when “man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent,” this New World, “commensurate to his capacity for wonder.” I would strive with all my strength to give that sense of wonder to those who will come after me.
When we dance the earth trembles. When our steps fall on the earth we feel the shudder of life beneath us, and the earth feels the beating of our hearts, and we become one with the earth. We shall not sever ourselves from the earth. We must chant our being, and we must dance in time with the rhythms of the earth. We must keep the earth.
There is no love without loss. I hear the drums that vibrate to the heartbeat of the earth. They set me dancing. I see the clouds that wreathe the summits. They set me dreaming. I know the wonder of waves that shake the headlands. They awaken my soul. I hear the screams of eagles on the wind. And I ponder, what are these things to me who loves and does not reckon loss? Do I not keep the earth?
How many lifeless things are placed each day between us and the living earth? A friend in Brooklyn told me that his little son had gone out to watch workmen breaking up a sidewalk. He was fascinated to see earth under the cement. He had never seen it before.
And the simple act of listening is crucial to the concept of language, more crucial even than reading and writing, and language in turn is crucial to human society.
She was not listening at the level of language but beneath it, in the deep recesses of the imagination.
We perceive existence by means of words and names. To this or that vague, potential thing I will give a name, and it will exist thereafter, and its existence will be clearly perceived. The name enables me to see it. I can call it by its name, and I can see it for what it is.
Sill. Their horses and weapons were confiscated, and they were imprisoned. In a field just.
My father was a painter and he taught art. He once said to me, ‘I never knew an Indian child who could not draw.’