James Welch (writer)
| James Welch | |
|---|---|
Welch in 2000 after being knighted and awarded an honorary medal by France
|
|
| Born |
November 18, 1940 Browning, Montana, U.S. |
| Died | August 4, 2003 (aged 62) Missoula, Montana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author, educator |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Blackfeet, A'aninin |
| Literary movement | Native American Renaissance |
| Notable works |
Winter in the Blood (1974) Fools Crow (1986) |
| Spouse | Lois Monk (m. 1968) |
James Phillip Welch, Jr. (November 18, 1940 – August 4, 2003), who grew up within the Blackfeet and A'aninin cultures of his parents, was a Native American novelist and poet, considered a founding author of the Native American Renaissance. His novel Fools Crow (1986) received several national literary awards, and his debut novel Winter in the Blood (1974) was adapted as a film by the same name, released in 2013.
In 1997 Welch received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.
James Welch was born in Browning, Montana on November 18, 1940. His father, James Phillip Welch, Sr. (June 3, 1914 - May 23, 2006), a welder and rancher, was a member of the Blackfeet tribe and his mother, Rosella Marie (née O'Bryan) Welch (December 14, 1914 - July 3, 2003), a stenographer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, was a member of the Gros Ventre (A'aninin). Both also had Irish ancestry but had grown up within Native American cultures. As a child, Welch attended schools on the Blackfeet and Fort Belknap reservations. Because Welch was raised in an American Indian setting, the traditions and religion, specifically from the Blackfoot history, were the sources of his writing.
In 1958, James Welch graduated from Washburn High School in Minneapolis. Post high school he tried out the life of a firefighter for the U.S Forest Service, as a laborer and as an Upward Bound counselor. Instead of pursuing those things, Welch began a master of fine arts degree program at the University of Montana. It was there that he studied under the poet Richard Hugo,who told him that "his poetry needed roots, so he should write what he knew about. Write about Indians and Indian culture. Write about home" he said. He graduated in 1965 with a B.A. in liberal arts. Shortly after, Welch published his first poem in the "Montana poet" issue of Visions International in 1967. He also briefly attended Northern Montana College.
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