Native American Authors
Native American authors entered the public sphere of print in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Mohegan Samson Occom (1723-1792) became the first Native American author in print with the 1772 publication of his Sermon Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul (New Haven, T. & S. Green). In 1829, Pequot author William Apess (1798-1839) became the first Native American to register copyright for his autobiography, A Son of the Forest (New York, the Author).
The initial phase of this project focused on Occom and Apess. Additional Native American authors, such as Ojibwa historian George Copway (1818-1869) or Paiute author Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins (1841-1891), among others, will be included following additional research. Native American authors who published in their native language, such as Cherokee writer, translator, and editor Elias Boudinot (1803-1839) are represented in the related language sections.
Digitized Works