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Joseph Bruchac

American writer, poet, and storyteller (born 1942)

Joseph Bruchac (born October 16, 1942) is an American writer and storyteller based in New York.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Joseph Bruchac (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Oct 16, 1942.1

About

He writes about Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a particular focus on northeastern Native American lives and folklore. He has published poetry, novels, and short stories. Some of his notable works include the novel Dawn Land (1993) and its sequel, Long River (1995), both of which feature a young Abenaki man before European contact.

From Wikipedia’s article on Joseph Bruchac, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedSyracuse University3
  • Date not recordedCornell University3
  • Date not recordedUnion Institute & University3

Bruchac was raised in Saratoga Springs, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Cornell University in 1965. At Cornell, he was a varsity heavyweight wrestler. He earned a master's degree in literature and creative writing from Syracuse University in 1966. He earned a PhD in comparative literature from the Union Institute & University in 1974.

From Wikipedia’s article on Joseph Bruchac (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: writer, children's writer.5

  • Date not recordedFounded Greenfield Review Press4

Teacher

Bruchac volunteered as a teacher in Ghana from 1966 to 1969. He taught English at Skidmore College from 1969 to 1973 and from 1973 to 1981 taught classes to maximum security prisoners as part of a program run by the college.

Writing career

Bruchac is a writer and storyteller who has published more than 120 books. Much of his work explores Abenaki identity and Native storytelling. He began publishing in 1971 and became a full-time writer in 1981.

In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.

Coauthor with Michael J. Caduto of the Keepers of the Earth series, Bruchac's poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from Akwesasne Notes and The American Poetry Review to National Geographic Magazine and Parabola. He has edited a number of anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift.

As one of the founders of the Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, he has helped Native American authors and authors who identify as being of Native descent get their work published. For more than five decades, he has been a part of Native American literary networks in the Northeast and across the continent, advocating for reciprocal relationships that connect writers, archives, and communities.

With his late wife, Carol, he founded the Greenfield Review Literary Center and the Greenfield Review Press.

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Musician

Bruchac plays several instruments, including the hand drum, Native American flute, and the double wooden flute, which produces two notes at the same time. He performs with his sister, Marge Bruchac, and his sons, Jim and Jesse, as part of The Dawnland Singers.

From Wikipedia’s article on Joseph Bruchac (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornOct 16, 1942, Saratoga Springs6
  • CitizenshipUnited States7

Bruchac lives in Porter Corners, a hamlet in the town of Greenfield, New York. He has two children, Jim and Jesse Bruchac.

He has collaborated on eight books with his son Jim.

Bruchac has studied various martial arts. He has black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and karate and runs martial arts classes.

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Ancestry dispute

Bruchac identifies as being of Abenaki, English, and Slovak ancestry. He is a member of the Nulhegan Abenaki Nation, a state-recognized tribe in Vermont. Bruchac said that being Native American was not only about ancestry, and that one could earn "cultural membership" via hard work. He compared it to karate, asking if he was not a black belt in the sport due to not being born as one.

In 1991, Bruchac's sister, Mary Ann Bruchac Lynch, wrote, in response to an article about her brother, that their grandfather had never indicated any Abenaki heritage to their mother, and "he referred to himself only as French Canadian".

Bruchac's claims, and the Nulhegan Abenaki Nation's claims, to Abenaki identity have been contested by the Odanak First Nation in Quebec. In 2025, the Odanak and Wôlinak communities commissioned a genealogical report into prominent members of Vermont-recognised Abenaki groups, over claims they had falsified their Indigenous descent. The report found that Bruchac was "99% European, with one identified Mohawk ancestor". Its conclusions were disputed by the Vermont groups.

From Wikipedia’s article on Joseph Bruchac (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 1984American Book Awards8

Sources

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