Fire Exit

Indigenous literature has a long and rich history in the United States and Canada. Oral storytelling dates back thousands of years, to the first Indigenous settlements in the Americas, and Indigenous authors have been penning texts for centuries. Indigenous literature, however, did not enter the mainstream until what is termed the “Native American Renaissance.” This period of increased literary production is typically dated to author N. Scott Momaday’s 1969 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel House Made of Dawn (1968). Momaday, and the other authors who would come to be associated with the first wave of the Native American Renaissance, depicted the lived experience of Indigenous individuals and communities and explored themes such as cultural loss and reclamation, Indigenous identity construction, and the impact of the Korean and Vietnam Wars on Indigenous soldiers. 

Momaday was also interested specifically in Indigenous masculinities, and his novels often feature male protagonists grappling with what it means to be Indigenous in modern, urban settings against the backdrop of majority-white landscapes. Momaday was not the only first-wave Indigenous author to engage with the politics of Indigenous masculinity. James Welch, known for his novel Winter in the Blood (1974), also depicted troubled protagonists undergoing identity confusion, searching for a sense of self rooted in Indigenous culture, and often living with substance use disorders and unresolved trauma. 

The 1980s and 1990s saw the rise of a second wave of Indigenous authors who related to the shifting nature of Indigenous identity and experience during the waning decades of the 20th century. They were less focused on issues like the Korean and Vietnam Wars and cultural reclamation than authors from the first wave, but they continued to depict the shift from reservation to urban living and explored how Indigenous lives were shaped and reshaped by life in cities. Sherman Alexie, known for Indian Killer (1996), The Toughest Indian in the World (2000), and other texts, continued to interrogate masculinity and asked big-picture questions about what Indigenous masculinity looked like in a changing world. Alexie has additionally written several books for young readers and has always displayed an interest in identity development and masculinity in boys and young men. 

Indigenous literature continues to be a critical subgenre within American literature, and a new generation of authors has begun to connect with a set of themes, ideas, and practices that are particularly relevant in the 21st century. The Land Back movement (a push to return stolen lands to Indigenous nations), the complex nature of generational (inherited) trauma, substance use disorders, the damaging impact of residential schools and the foster care system, and the importance of culturally relevant education and Indigenous community building are at the forefront of this new wave of authorship. Writers such as Tommy Orange, Oscar Hokeah, Morgan Talty, Brandon Hobson, and Joshua Whitehead share a particular interest in how these issues impact Indigenous men and Indigenous masculinities. 

Orange’s There There (2018) and Wandering Stars (2024) examine the experiences of one extended family in Oakland, California, and feature multiple male characters searching for a stronger sense of identity against the backdrop of American structural inequality within under-resourced communities. Hokeah’s Calling for a Blanket Dance (2022) uses multiple narrators to depict the trials and triumphs of a Cherokee-Kiowa family in Texas, Oklahoma, and Mexico. Although the author uses both male and female narrators, the text’s protagonist is a young man battling adverse socioeconomic conditions as he navigates generational trauma, family dysfunction, the foster care system, and violence. Like Talty, Hokeah is interested in how various forces shape the development of men and how Indigenous masculinities are constructed against the backdrop of an often hostile, majority-white world. 

Hobson’s text The Removed (2021) looks at Indigenous masculinity through the framework of police violence and its damaging impact on families. Like many other Indigenous authors, past and present, Hobson interrogates the changes that transitions from reservation to urban living have wrought upon Indigenous individuals and communities. Whitehead’s Johnny Appleseed (2018) features a two-spirit protagonist to explore the intersections of LGBTQ+ and Indigenous identity. Talty shares with many of these authors an interest in how violence, trauma, and structural inequality impact Indigenous masculinities. His texts shine a light on these issues and paint a portrait of Indigenous men as they build and develop a sense of what it means to be an Indigenous man in a changing world.