My family is Abenaki Indian on my mother’s side. My father’s side of the family is Slovak, and we also have some English ancestry. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
I often find myself unsatisfied with books ‘about’ Indians because they are written from the viewpoint of non-Indians. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
Over the years, I found myself traveling parts of the Lewis and Clark Trail, putting my hands in the river where they set out from St. Louis, viewing the Great Falls of Montana, standing by the same Pacific Ocean they saw with such joy. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
At a time when Europeans already had a long history of violent contact with Native people, Lewis and Clark made most of their journey in peace. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
I don’t recall exactly when I first began reading about Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery, but I suspect that it was in fourth grade. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
Very good records exist about the Trail of Tears. Journals and other records kept by Cherokees and non-Indians tell such things as which people were where on which day. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
It is amazing to me that so little is still known about the Trail of Tears or the lives of the Cherokees themselves. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
The Cherokees tried to do everything within the law and wished only to live in peace on their own lands. Yet they were cheated out of their birthright and treated as if they were less than human. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
The Trail of Tears has a great deal of meaning for every person of American Indian ancestry, whether they are Cherokee or not. For me, it has always stood for what is best and worst about the history of the United States. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
I think every writer will tell you that their characters are always partially themselves: who I am and what I’ve experienced. It’s always there in part of my characters. Joseph Bruchac Read Quote
