N. Scott Momaday. Courtesy Oklahoma Hall of Fame Archives.

N. Scott Momaday is a writer whose work helped initiate the Native American literary renaissance. Born in 1934 in Lawton, Oklahoma to a Kiowa writer and a Cherokee artist, Momaday's parents moved the family around the Southwest, living in New Mexico and eventually Arizona, where they taught at the Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo reservation schools, and at which Momaday attended classes. Growing up, his father would tell him traditional Kiowa stories before bed and Momaday would ask his father to repeat his favorite stories over and over. His early affinity for Kiowa storytelling helped shape Momaday's future calling as a writer.

N. Scott Momaday (top row, second from left) with other 1987 Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductees. Courtesy Oklahoma Hall of Fame Archives.

Momaday used the oral storytelling tradition to frame his own writing and style. Inspired by his father's fluent use of the Kiowa language, his work incorporates Kiowa culture and language, as well as his experiences growing up on different reservations around the Southwest. In 1969, Momaday won the Pulitzer Prize in literature for his book House Made of Dawn. The novel follows a Native American veteran returning home after the end of World War II, detailing the struggle to return to traditional ways of life after such a traumatic experience. 

N. Scott Momaday. Courtesy Oklahoma Hall of Fame Archives.

Momaday's House Made of Dawn is considered a key text in the initiation of the Native American Literary Renaissance, increasing the prominence of Native literature in mainstream consciousness. Momaday has expressed pride that his work helped prove to the publishing and literary world that amplifying the voices of Native writers is a worthwhile pursuit. Beyond writing, Momaday taught at many universities and served as a founding trustee of the National Museum of the American Indian.