Pulitzer Book Club Inclusion Guide
"House Made of Dawn" by N. Scott Momaday
INCLUSION MILESTONES
1969
• Jimi Hendrix headlines at Woodstock
• Stonewall Inn raid protests ignite gay civil rights movement
• Anti Vietnam war protests
AUTHOR INSPIRATIONS
Momaday learned about Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo Indian cultures on reservations in Arizona and New Mexico where his parents were teachers. The family lived near the army air base in Hobbs, New Mexico during WW2.
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Featured Reader Wanted!
Featured Reader
– Share your key take-away about inclusion in this book in a sentence or two.
– Write a paragraph or two (up to 250 words) to describe your thoughts on exclusion/inclusion in the book, why you related or did not connect with the book, and why you think reading, inclusion and dialog about inclusion matter.
– Identify the name and website address of a cause you support with an inclusive mission.
WW2 vet returns to reservation with PTSD; alchol, reintegration issues
Defense at murder trial for murder via knife: killing-snake-in-sand.
Said to be first novel to bring Native American culture to mainstream America.
Short at 212 pages or 6.5 listening hours, but challenging given depressing content and writing that fuses poetry, chants, journal entries, cultural mythology, and religious sermons.
Systemic kindness. Unrelenting challenge requires a network of patient, skilled caregivers.
Exploitation, relocation, displacement, discrimination of Native American who is a veteran released prisoner.
Burned roasted mutton and fried bread. Sweet wine, lots of it, and boiled coffee.
"They have assumed the names and gestures of their enemies, but have held on to their own, secret souls; and in this there is a resistance and an overcoming, a long outwaiting.”
Fire pit, sad, badly-lit basement meeting room, wildlife sanctuary or Audubon center, or stunning natural beauty.
Compare regard for words in societies with an oral tradition to written tradition in the WW2 era versus digital communication today.
What are the expectations of family, neighbors, and society for people when they return from war or are released from prison? How does that compare to what happened when Native Americans were relocated from reservation?
What do extinction of people and animals have in common?
What can you do to ensure the fair sale cultural art and resources?
How social workers help hard-to-reach clients without getting too close? What support is needed for people who support others?
Compare running and assimilation.
Horseback riding; Devils Tower, Black Hills of Wyoming.
2019 PBS American Masters documentary “N. Scott Momaday: Words From a Bear”
1969 “The Way to Rainy Mountain.”