Top 14 Joseph Bruchac Quotes

At a time when Europeans already had a long history of violent contact with Native people, Lewis and Clark made most of their journey in peace.

My own special knowledge is about the Abenaki people and, to some degree, my Iroquois neighbors. But whenever I write anything about another tribal nation, I always get a lot of help. Not just from books, but from people who belong to that tribal nation.

I was a very avid reader when I was a child, and I also was a good listener.

I think I always knew I would be a writer some day, but it wasn’t until I was grown and had children of my own that I turned to telling Native American stories.

The Cherokees tried to do everything within the law and wished only to live in peace on their own lands. Yet they were cheated out of their birthright and treated as if they were less than human.

I think every writer will tell you that their characters are always partially themselves: who I am and what I’ve experienced. It’s always there in part of my characters.

One of the things I’ve been taught by Native American elders is the importance of patience, of waiting to do things when the time is right.

My family is Abenaki Indian on my mother’s side. My father’s side of the family is Slovak, and we also have some English ancestry.

I was raised by my grandparents, who had a little general store. My grandmother, Marion Dunham Bowman, was a graduate of Albany Law School. Although she never did practice law, she kept the house filled with books. It’s because of her that I was always reading.

The Trail of Tears should teach all of us the importance of respect for others who are different from ourselves and compassion for those who have difficulties.

From my teenage years on, I sought out Native elders from many tribal nations and listened to their words. I also started a small press, The Greenfield Review Press, and became very involved with publishing the work of other American Indian authors, especially books of poetry.

To begin with, I want to tell a good story, a story that people will listen to and that they’ll think this is true, even if it is a story that might be defined as – as myth or legend or even fanciful.

Every year, I travel extensively in the autumn and the spring. I set most of the winter and summer aside for my family and my own tribal relatives. But during that traveling time, I often find myself visiting other native communities around the continent – perhaps a dozen or more each year.

I don’t recall exactly when I first began reading about Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery, but I suspect that it was in fourth grade.