"How are stories part of our collective culture and memory? Explore the role of the oral tradition for Native American tribes like the Kiowa and how writers like N. Scott Momaday has managed to transfer the oral tradition to the page through his novels about Native American identity in the 20th and 21st century in this video from the American Masters film Words from a Bear: N. Scott Momaday.

Momaday's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel House Made of Dawn led to the breakthrough of Native American literature into the mainstream..."

"Native Americans had established a rich and highly developed tradition of oral literature long before the writings of the European colonists. This program explores that richness by introducing Native American oral traditions through the work of three contemporary authors: Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo), Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo), and Luci Tapahonso (Navajo)."

"Acclaimed novelist, poet, and essayist Leslie Marmon Silko is known for her lyric treatment of Native American subjects. In recognition of her lifetime achievement in writing and the 2020 Robert Kirsch Award honor, we have assembled the next generation of writers to discuss their works and 21st Century Native literature."