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Joseph Bruchac: Life and Work
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This site includes Joseph Bruchac’s biography, photos, and more.
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Joseph Bruchac is a well-known Native author and storyteller who has written more than 120 books for both children and adults. His work is heavily influenced by his Abenaki ancestry, and he has worked extensively with other family members on projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture and language. (The Abenaki are a tribe of traditionally Algonquian-speaking peoples of northeastern North America.)
Dr. Joseph Bruchac has contributed two children’s books to our Wisdom Tales Press imprint: The most recent is A Peacemaker for Warring Nations: The Founding of the Iroquois League (April 2021), illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden. It draws from the teachings of both contemporary and past Iroquois tradition bearers in telling the inspiring story of how “the Peacemaker,” a divine messenger sent by the Creator, helped to bring reconciliation to warring nations. The other book is The Hunter’s Promise: An Abenaki Tale (September 2015), which was illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. In the latter, Bruchac retells a traditional story of love, loyalty, trust, and magic, a story that can be found in various forms among many of the indigenous nations of the northeast.
Dr. Bruchac also contributed “Forewords” to the books Spirit of the Earth: Indian Voices on Nature, edited by Michael and Joseph A. Fitzgerald, and Horse Raid: The Making of a Warrior, told and illustrated by Paul Goble.
As a student, Joseph Bruchac received his B.A. from Cornell University, and then later a M.A. and Ph.D in Comparative Literature. His poems, articles, and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, including National Geographic and Smithsonian Magazine. Dr. Bruchac’s work has earned him numerous awards, including a Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose 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, Joseph Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States. He is the storyteller-in-residence for various Native American organizations and schools throughout the US, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School.
Joseph Bruchac is also a talented musician. He composes and sings in a variety of styles and on a number of instruments. Along with some others in the Native performance group, The Dawnland Singers, he has collaborated on a CD titled Honor Songs, available from his website.
Among Dr. Joseph Bruchac’s most notable literary works are Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children (with Michael Caduto), Code Talker: A Book About the Navajo Marines, and Crazy Horse’s Vision (illustrated by S.D. Nelson). Joseph Bruchac lives in Greenfield Center, NY.
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Joseph Bruchac’s work appearing in World Wisdom books:
- A Peacemaker for Warring Nations: The Founding of the Iroquois League (April 2021), illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden
- The “Foreword” to Spirit of the Earth: Indian Voices on Nature, edited by Michael and Joseph A. Fitzgerald
- Winner in the “Multicultural Non-Fiction” category of the 2018 Best Book Awards
- Finalist in the “Best Interior Design” category of the 2018 Best Book Awards
- Finalist in the “Spirituality: Inspirational” category of the 2018 Best Book Awards
- Silver Medal in the 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the category “Body, Mind & Spirit”
- Finalist in the 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the category “Nature”
- Silver Medal winner in the “Gift Book” category of the 2017 Benjamin Franklin Book of the Year Awards
- Gold Medal in the 2018 Midwest Book Awards in the category “Interior Design”
- The Hunter’s Promise: An Abenaki Tale, author (reteller), illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
- Finalist in the 2015 Foreword Reviews INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards, in the “Picture Books, Early Reader” category
- Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award
- The “Foreword” to Horse Raid: The Making of a Warrior, told and illustrated by Paul Goble:
- Finalist in the “Children's Fiction” category of The USA “Best Books 2014”
- Finalist in the 2015 Benjamin Franklin Award for Young Reader: Fiction (8-12 years)
- Finalist in the “Total Book Design” category of the 2014 Midwest Book Awards
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