Leslie Marmon Silko

Whitney SmithAndrew McNeal

Max CytulskiMario Thompson

Miriam Barton

• She was born on March 5, 1948 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. • She is ¼ Laguna Pueblo Native American and the rest of her ancestry is European American and Mexican American.

• She was educated at a Catholic school.• She got her BA from the University of New Mexico.

• She was divorced twice and has two sons.

• She received the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant in 1981.

• She was one of the key figures to the Native American Renaissance.

Literary Works

• While attending the University of New Mexico, she published her first story, “Tony’s Story,” a provocative tale of witchery and renewal.

• She studied for three semesters at the university’s American Indian Law Program, with the intention of filing native land claims.

• In 1971, a National Endowment for the Arts Discovery Grant changed her mind about law school and she fully devoted herself to her writing.

Yellow Woman

• Published in 1974 in the collection, The Man to Send Rain Clouds: Contemporary Stories by American Indians.

• It is an English short-story inspired by Native American narratives.

• In traditional Laguna lore, Yellow Woman is either the heroine or a minor character in a wide range of tales.