Joseph Bruchac lives with his wife, Carol, in the Adirondack mountain foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York, in the same house where his maternal grandparents raised him. Much of his writing draws on that land and his Abenaki ancestry. Although his American Indian heritage is only one part of an ethnic background that includes Slovak and English blood, those Native roots are the ones by which he has been most nourished. He, his younger sister Margaret, and his two grown sons, James and Jesse, continue to work extensively in projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture, language and traditional Native skills, including performing traditional and contemporary Abenaki music with the Dawnland Singers.
He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief. Forthcoming titles include Squanto's Journey (Harcourt), a picture book, Sacajawea (Harcourt), an historical novel, Crazy Horse's Vision (Lee & Low), a picture book, and Pushing Up The Sky (Dial), a collection of plays for children. His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature and both the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.
As a professional teller of the traditional tales of the Adirondacks and the Native peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Joe Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States from Florida to Hawaii and has been featured at such events as the British Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for Native American organizations and schools throughout the continent, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School. He discusses Native culture and his books and does storytelling programs at dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year as a visiting author.
Selected List of Awards include:
American Book Award for Breaking Silence
Horn Book honor for The Boy Who Lived with the Bears
Scientific American Children’s Book Award for The Story of the Milky Way
Cherokee Nation Prose Award
Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children’s Literature
2005 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award
2001 Parents Guide to Childrens' Media Award for Skeleton Man
2000 Parents Choice Gold Award for Crazy Horse's Vision
1999 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas
1999 Jane Addams Childrens Book Award for Heart of a Chief
1998 Writer of the Year Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas
1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas
1997 Paterson Award for Dog People
1996 Boston Globe Book Award for The Boy Who Lived with the Bears
1995 Knickerbocker Award
RV: Is there one book out of the many that you’ve written that is very meaningful to you?
Joseph: It's hard to single out any one book. Each one has its own special meaning to me. I think, though, that my recent novel, MARCH TOWARD THE THUNDER --perhaps because it is so fresh in my mind and because it took me so many years to reach the point where I felt ready to tell the story--is worth mentioning. It's a novel about the American Civil War and my main character is based, I part, on my own great-grandfather who served as a member of the NY 69th, the Irish Brigade--despite the fact that he was an American Indian.
RV: The awards that you’ve received are astonishing and impressive. How does it feel to receive personal recognition for your accomplishments?
Joseph: I feel honored by the awards I've received, but I also often feel as if the honor is not mine personally. Instead it belongs to the stories themselves.
RV: Where does your affinity to write come from?
Joseph: I think that reading--something I've loved to do since I was very young--has been a great inspiration to me. And hearing stories, especially those related by elders, has been just as much an influence.
RV: I read a review of your book “Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two”:
“My son asked me to pick out a relatively short book from the library for his 8th grade book report. Code talker was it. After he raved about it, and spoke of some specifics, I read it myself before returning to the library. It is a beautifully told tale that intertwines the 'simple' English translation of a Navajo language filled with spirituality, respect, honor, and a mythological belief in how things came to be. How these Navajo marines came to become major players in WWII victory in the face of horrendous racially biased treatment at home is gripping. They were great American heroes, only to be treated like dirt upon their arrival home. Powerful, fascinating story that is impossible to put down.”
Your methods of expression and sharing are highly admired. You are very well known for your story telling abilities. Is this a natural gift for you or is it an acquired skill that takes practice?
Joseph: Practice is a very big part of it. But it also begins with listening, listening closely to the voices of others and absorbing what they share. It's also important to recognize that a published book or story is seldom a first draft--it is something that has been written and rewritten many times to get it right. Revision is a very important part of my writing!
RV: “Thirteen Moon’s on Turtle’s Back” is another wonderful book that you’ve written. Where do some of your ideas for your books come from?
Joseph: The ideas for my books come from stories I've been told, books I've read, experiences I've had, sometimes even suggestions from my readers. THIRTEEN MOONS ON TURTLE'S BACK came about because a friend of mine, Jonathan London, was trying to write a book of poems for kids based on some of the Native names for the moons of the year. He asked me for help and then asked me to co-author the book with him. It ended up with me writing all of the text and all of the poems, but we kept his name on it because it was his idea first.
RV: I understand that your work involves preserving the Abenaki culture, language and traditional skills as well as music. Can you please share with us your compassion and interest in this quest?
Joseph: I was not raised on a reservation or in a family where anyone talked openly about being Abenaki Indian. There are many people in my area--upstate New York--who have Mohawk or Abenaki ancestry, as I do--but who were never taught much about it. In part that is because in the time of our grandparents, being identified as "Indian" meant being treated badly. My grandfather, Jesse Bowman, told me often how he left school in 4th grade. "I jumped out the window and never went back because they kept calling me a dirty Indian," he said. But there were certain things about my upbringing (by my grandparents on the Abenaki side) that led to my wanting to know more about our history and culture. So, from my teenage years on, I began seeking out elders, relatives, and people who could teach me and I raised my two sons with a lifelong connection to Abenai language, culture and traditions.
RV: What projects are you currently involved in?
Joseph: I'm working on several projects, including a number of new poems in English and Abenaki with my son Jesse (you can hear some of them on his website at http://westernabenaki.com and a novel that takes place after the Civil War at the time when African American soldiers of the 10th Cavalry, the "Buffalo Soldiers" found themselves in conflict with the tribal
people of the southern plains.
RV: Who are your heroes?
Joseph: I have quite a few heroes, men and women who have inspired me in many ways. I'm especially inspired by those who speak for peace. I was involved in the Civil Rights Movement and had the honor of marching beside Martin Luther King on the Meredith March in Mississippi. I could make a very long list of American Indian people, past and present, who've been my heroes--including such people as Cherokee Chief John Ross or the Navajo men who served as code talkers during World War II. One of my major inspirations has been the Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, whose great novel THINGS FALL APART, was one of the first to look at colonialism from the point of view of an indigenous person. Chinua was on my PhD committee and I'm honored to count him as a personal friend.
RV: Given your background in education, the degrees that you’ve earned and your experience as a teacher, do you have any suggestions to anyone aspiring to become an author or poet?
Joseph: Read, read, read. And write every day.
RV: Is there any information that I haven’t asked you that you would like to share?
Joseph: Just two of my favorite words in Abenai: “Kina”: listen, “Olakamigenoka”: Make Peace
I’d like to express my sincere and warm appreciation to Joseph for contributing his time to this interview. There are an enormous amount of writes credited to Joseph that is strictly amazing. Please investigate more of Joseph’s writes by clicking here.
Joseph is also part of a singing group called the Dawnland Singers. The original four members of The Dawnland Singers are James Bruchac, Jesse Bruchac, the sons of the oldest member of the group Joseph Bruchac and the nephews of the final member, Joe's sister Marge Bruchac. All four are well-known, respected and much-travelled as traditional storytellers and have hundreds of publications--ranging from books for adults and children to academic essays--between the four of them. To listen to samples or purchase any of their tracks or the entire album please visit Cdbaby.
Joseph also co-produced and co-wrote Jim Thorpe, The World’s Greatest Athlete. Please check out this honorary and amazing film by visiting http://jimthorpefilm.com
