Happy Birthday, Paula Gunn Allen

Born October 24, 1939, Albuquerque, NM | Died May 29, 2008, Fort Bragg, CA

Today, the Best American Essays newsletter celebrates the literary critic, activist, and novelist Paula Gunn Allen on the eighty-fifth anniversary of her birth. She is often credited with establishing a Native American literary presence in the United States and combining these heritage themes with feminist influences.

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Paula Gunn Allen, no date, photographer unknown

“As long as we avoid the creative, we are condemned to reaction.”

Paula Gunn Allen, 2007, Christopher Felver

“I have noticed that as soon as you have soldiers the story is called history. Before their arrival it is called myth, folktale, legend, fairy tale, oral poetry, ethnography. After the soldiers arrive, it is called history.”

The Sacred Hoop (1986; rpt. 1992)) is Allen’s first work of nonfiction, which documents the continuity of women’s voices in Native American traditions. Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women (1990) is a collection curated by Allen, comprising traditional tales, biographical writings, and short stories by Native American women. As Long as the Rivers Flow: The Stories of Nine Native Americans (1996), written with Patricia Clark Smith, is a collection of biographical portraits written for young adult readers.

First published nonfiction work:

• The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions (Beacon Press, 1986; rpt. 1992).

See also:

Read: “Champion of Native American literature,” by Jocelyn Y. Stewart, Los Angles Times, 2008.

Explore: The tribute to Paula Gunn Allen at Veteran Feminists of America, Inc.

Listen to: The Women’s Show—Interview with Paula Gunn Allen,” California Revealed, 1985.

Listen to: “Episode 48: The Sacred Hoop, by Paula Gunn Allen.” Breaking Down Patriarchy. 2021.