N. Scott Momaday

N. Scott Momaday
Momaday receiving the National Medal of Arts from George W. Bush, 2007
Born	Novarro Scotte Mammedaty[1] (1934-02-27)February 27, 1934 Lawton, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	January 24, 2024(2024-01-24) (aged 89) Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma United States
Education	University of New Mexico (BA) Stanford University (MA, PhD)
Genre	Fiction
Literary movement	Native American Renaissance
Notable works	House Made of Dawn (1968)

Navarre Scotte Momaday (né Mammedaty [the t was a typographical error and should not be cited in derivative sources^[2]]; February 27, 1934 – January 24, 2024) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His novel House Made of Dawn was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, and is considered the first major work of the Native American Renaissance.

In a tribute published upon his death, Joy Harjo, 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, noted that in “House Made of Dawn,” "Momaday found a way to move eloquently between oral storytelling forms and the written English novel form. The trajectory of the book moves from sunrise to sunrise, making a circle — a story structure recognizable in indigenous oral traditions, yet following traditional American literary shape and expectations of a novel. The title is drawn directly from the traditional literature of the Diné people."^[3]

Momaday received the National Medal of Arts in 2007 for his work's celebration and preservation of Indigenous oral and art tradition. He held 20 honorary degrees from colleges and universities, the last of which was from the California Institute of the Arts in 2023,^[4] and was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.