OCTOBER 24, 1939

LAGUNA PUEBLO PAULA GUNN ALLEN BORN—NOTED POET, NOVELIST

Born in Albuquerque of Laguna Pueblo heritage, Paula earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Oregon and her doctorate in American studies from the University of New Mexico.  She taught Native American and ethnic studies at several universities, including University of California-Berkeley.  A leading scholar of Native American literature, she published The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions (1986); Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat (2004); Life Is a Fatal Disease: Collected Poems 1962–1995 (1997); Skins and Bones (1988), and America the Beautiful: Last Poems (2010).   Her fellowships include: National Endowment for the Arts, National Research Council, and Lannan Foundation.  She also was awarded the Hubbell Medal from the Modern Language Association.  She died May 29, 2008, in Fort Bragg, California.

Source:  Annette Van Dyke, “Paula Gunn Allen (1939-2008),” Studies in American Indian Literatures, University of Nebraska, Vol. 20, Number 4 (Winter 2008), pp. 68-75.  Retrieved 7/17/2019, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20737444?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents 
Photo:  Lee Marmon, 1959.  Lee Marmon Pictorial Collection.  Courtesy of Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico