The Age of Spirituality and
Faith: Background Information
on the American Indian
Junior American Literature
Did you know…
 According to archaeologists, the first American Indians
arrived in the our country around 50,000 B.C. by the
Bering Strait.
 American Indians probably founded the town you were
born in, but were likely to have been removed from it
forcibly.
 American Indian children were taken away to boarding
schools where they were punished for speaking their
own languages or practicing their own religion.
 American Indians were denied religious freedom until
1978.
American Indian Literature is
comprised of a variety of
interlocking categories…
 Traditional: Either for ceremonial or popular purposes,
these stories include creation myths, trickster stories,
stories of transformation, and tales of a cultural hero or
legend.
 Genres: Poetry, short fiction, novel, drama, and
autobiography (particularly with contemporary works).
 Traditional and genre literature can overlap and use
elements of the other category.
 Political protest and social criticism also make their way
into many aspects of American Indian literature, from
poetry to autobiographies, to speeches, and more.
Traditional Creation Stories:
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These stories explain how aspects of the
world came to be.
They are told from memory and the ones
we know were often written down by
anthropologists studying the tribe.
Many involve a creator deity and a
reshaping of a chaotic world, a world
typically covered in water.
Creation Stories
continued:
• Other similarities include the
forming of male and female,
the creation of animals, the
creation of the environment,
and the emergence of good
and evil.
• A value is placed on a balance
in life between nature, man,
spirits, and divinities.
• These stories show a profound
respect for nature. The spirit is
not removed from nature but in
it. Animals are also seen as
sacred beings, not inferior to
humans, but often superior.
Archetypes
Many myths contain
archetypes, or old
imaginative patterns that
have appeared in
literature throughout the
ages. We will notice a
life-giving tree in one of
the stories we read; this
is an archetype of
American Indian
literature as is the
trickster hero and more.
American Indian Poetry
 Like all poetry, American Indian
Poetry is filled with imagery and
inspiration.
 American Indian Poetry is
rooted in a continuing oral and
ceremonial tradition. It reflects
the tribe’s desire to live in
harmony with nature and each
other.
 Poems may address everyday
activities.
 American Indian poems may
also show modern Indians
interacting in society or address
environmental concerns.
Closing Thoughts
 Many colleges and universities currently have
whole courses devoted to American Indian
Literature. There are literally hundreds of
American Indian poets, authors, playwrights,
activists, and essayists.
 Hopefully, your knowledge of the American Indian
and the dispelling of the stereotypes surrounding
this culture can be achieved, in part, through
studying the literature of Native Americans.