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Gerald Vizenor
Biographical Notes
Date of birth:
October 22, 1934, Minneapolis, Minnesota
 Gerald Robert Vizenor. Author. Before Vizenor was four years old, his father was murdered, he lived in several foster homes, he moved back in with his mother and stepfather, he was abandoned by his mother (although later they reconciled), and, when he was fifteen years old, his stepfather was killed in a work accident. His father was Anishinaabe (Chippewa), and Vizenor spent considerable time on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota with his father's family. He joined the Minnesota National Guard in 1950, at age fifteen, and was honorably discharged after a year when the unit was activated and sent to Korea. He enlisted in the Army two years later and was on active duty from 1952 to 1955, serving in Japan. Studied at New York University, 1955-56; B.A., University of Minnesota, 1960; graduate work at the University of Minnesota, 1962-70; Bush Fellowship for study at Harvard University, 1974. Served as community advocate and director of the American Indian Employment and Guidance Center in Minneapolis, late 1960s. Staff writer for the Minneapolis Tribune, 1968-70, and contributing editorial writer in the late 1970s through the 1980s. Taught at Lake forest College, Illinois, 1970-71; director and professor of Native American studies at Bemidji State University , 1972-73; the University of Minnesota, 1977-85; University of California-Santa Cruz, 1987-90; University of Oklahoma, 1990-91; University of California-Berkley, 1991 to present. American Book Award, 1988 (Griever: An American Monkey King in China). Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Macalester College, 1999. Member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Reservation, Minnesota. Founder and series editor of the American Indian Literature and Critical Studies series at the University of Oklahoma Press 1990 to present.
Selected Works
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Additional Resources
Sources used to prepare this author entry
The following bibliography may include links to Web sites that are no longer operable or have changed location. The sources are shown as they existed in the fall of 1999 when the entries were compiled.
- Barron, Ron. A Guide to Minnesota Writers: Expanded and Revised. Minnesota: Minnesota Council of Teachers of English, 1993.
- Contemporary Authors. Vol. 13-14. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1965.
- Minneapolis Star and Tribune. 12 May 1983, p. C2.
- Minneapolis Star Tribune. 17 Jan. 1991, p. 1E.
- Minneapolis Star Tribune. 1 July 1999, p. 1E.
- St. Paul Pioneer Press. 2 Oct. 1988, p. 8D.
- St. Paul Pioneer Press. 22 May 1990, p. 10B.
This pilot database compiled and maintained by the Minnesota Historical Society.
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