Joseph Bruchac

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Joseph Bruchac
By Amanda Burleson
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The Early Years

• Joseph Bruchac was born October 16, 1942 in
  Saratoga Springs, New York.
• Josephs father was of Slovak decent and his
  mother was of Native American decent.
• Joseph Bruchac grew up at the base of the
  Adirondack Mountains.
• Joseph was raised by his maternal grandparents.
  Though my parents home was less than a half
  mile away, . . . I never spent a night under
  their roof.

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• Josephs grandparents owned Bowmans Store, a
  small gas station and general store, where he
  spent much of his childhood. Bowmans store was
  a place where small seeds of love and trust, of
  belief and sharing, were planted. . .
• Jesse Bowman (Obomdsawin), Josephs grandfather
  was of Abenaki Indian and French ancestry.
  Josephs grandfather never admitted his Abenaki
  ancestry and would identify himself as French
  when asked.
• Josephs grandfather talked about Indians when he
  was in his garden, though many of his practices
  were traditionally Native American.

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Thoughts on Multiculturalism

• Joseph Bruchacs early years laid the foundation
  for his future as a Native American writer.
• For Native American peoples of North America
  multiculturalism simply means people. Not some
  people all people Wli dogo wongan is how we say
  it in Abenaki, . . . a phrase that might simply
  be translated as good relatives meaning all our
  relations in a figurative sense.
• My firm belief, is that when perceived properly
  , when presented and used with sensitivity and
  balance, ideas of multiculturalism can empower
  all of our children.

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Becoming a Writer

• Joseph Bruchacs early years laid the foundation
  for his future as a writer.
• He claims that his writing career began by
  listening. As a small child around the store
  where people were always coming and going he was
  able to listen to many stories.
• Being a listener lead me to reading.
• Though Josephs grandfather could not read or
  write, his grandmother was educated and had many
  books that young Joseph had access to. She would
  also drive him to the library to get new books.
• Being a reader lead me to writing. I began
  writing poems in the second grade and Ive never
  stopped.

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The Circle

• When Joseph was in his early twenties, a mentor
  introduced him to a circle divided into four
  sections. This introduction impacted his writing
  greatly.
• The first part of the Circle represents the dawn
  and the first step to learning, which is to
  listen. The second part of the Circle stands for
  morning, which is to observe. The third part of
  the Circle is the afternoon and it reminds us to
  remember. The fourth part of the Circle
  represents the sunset and the final step to
  learning, which is to share.

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Fatherhood

• Joseph had two sons and he decided that he wanted
  his children to learn about their Indian
  heritage.
• He told them stories and when he ran out of
  stories to tell he traveled to seek out Native
  elders.
• I listened. I read books. I researched. And I
  learned. Being a father made me a storyteller.

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Education and Experience

• Joseph has 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 three years at
  Keta Secondary School in Ghana. He spent eight
  years at Skidmore College where he taught
  Creative Writing and African American Literature.
  He also taught at Green Meadows Intitute, 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.

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Childrens Literature

• One of the first childrens books that Mr.
  Bruchac ever had published was Turkey Brother and
  Other Iroquois Stories. This was a compilation
  of stories that he had told his sons.
• Joseph Bruchac is an extremely diverse writing
  repertoire. He has written biographies,
  autobiographies, teachers resources, picture
  books, informational books, folktales, plays,
  poetry. All of his writings have undertones of
  Bruchacs Native American Heritage.

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Folklore
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BiographiesAutobiographies
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Fiction
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Informational
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Plays, Poetry, Storytelling, Games and
Instructional Materials
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The Circle Continues

• Joseph, his younger sister Margaret, and his two
  grown sons, James and Jesse, continue to work
  extensively on projects involving the
  preservation of Abenaki culture and oral
  tradition, language and traditional Native
  skills, through storytelling, performing
  traditional and contemporary Abenaki.
• A story is a way both of seeing the world and
  experiencing the world. When you hear a story,
  you can find yourself in that story. That story
  is the result of the things that people have seen
  and heard and understood, often for many
  generations before you.