To LaVonne -- With Good Thoughts

I have very good thoughts of LaVonne Ruoff and all that she has accomplished within the field of Native American literary studies as we view it today. Almost thirty years ago, when I went to the MLA conference for the first time, I remember being turned off by the condescension and "brush-offs," as I saw them at the time, by most of the non-Indian scholars there in the Indian lit sessions, toward me. And as I remember that time in 1976, there were no other Indians at the gathering, and all the academics who were there were seemed more hung up on "identity" issues than the Indian writers I knew. I was bothered also by the surety (as it seemed then) that the only Indian literature around was either from the trinity of Momaday, Welch, and Silko or a version or rehashing of the old Schoolcraft renditions.

I very naively had a paper to present (it was my "Rise of the White Shaman" paper, which brought me some degree of fame and infamy a little later on), but imagine my surprise when I learned that not only had no one read it beforehand, but also that I was only to give a five-minute summary of it, after which there were no questions about it all. No one seemed at all interested in the issues I felt I had raised.

LaVonne Ruoff was the one exception among the crowd. She was extremely gracious and pleasant and very interested in hearing about "that whole bunch of other Indian writers who were around the University of New Mexico (Simon Ortiz, Bill Oandasan, Joy Harjo, Luci Tapahonso, etc.)," where I was coming from at the time. Afterward, she tried very hard to involve me in future MLA Indian lit matters. I have nothing but praise for her and her continual efforts to bring in the Indian writers and scholars.

Always able to see beyond the very narrow definitions, LaVonne has been a very welcomed presence in the area of Native American literary studies. May her contributions continue.