The series, presented by Stillwater Public Library and the OSU Edmon Low Library, begins at 6:30 p.m. Foley will discuss Blackfeet culture, Native American traditions and themes throughout the book.  It will also include commentary on the book’s author, James Welch.

Welch is regarded as one of the leaders of the Native American Renaissance, a time beginning in the 1960s and 1970s when Native American literature dramatically increased.  Welch’s parents were members of the Blackfeet and Gros Ventre tribes.  He spent part of his childhood in school at the Blackfeet reservation.

In college, Welch’s mentor called the writer’s poetry “unfocused” and encouraged Welch to give the poetry more depth by writing what he knew.  Welch took the advice and began writing about his home, life on a reservation and Native American culture.  That advice resulted in numerous poetry collections and five highly acclaimed books, including 1986’s “Fools Crow” which follows a young Blackfeet man through the last glory days of his tribe. 

Part of Welch’s story was inspired by his paternal grandmother’s leadership of the band of Blackfeet Indians who escaped the 1870 Marias River massacre. This massacre of 173 Native American women, children and men by white settlers is a prominent part of “Fools Crow.”

After being published to critical acclaim, the book received the American Book Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize and Pacific Northwest Book Award.  Welch subsequently received the Native Writers Circle of the Americas’ Lifetime Achievement Award and France’s Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Program scholar Dr. Hugh Foley is a professor of fine arts at Rogers State University in Claremore, Okla., where he teaches Native American Studies, cinema and music appreciation/history courses.

Books for the free program can be picked up at the Stillwater Public Library.  The public is encouraged to attend whether or not they read the book.

For more information, visit the Stillwater Public Library web site at library.stillwater.org, or call 405-372-3633. For more information about the “Book Talk and Dynamic Dialogue” program at the OSU Library, visit library.okstate.edu or call 405-744-7331.

Books, services and other materials for this series are provided by Let's Talk About It, Oklahoma, a project of the Oklahoma Humanities Council with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund and the Inasmuch Foundation.