To read the story published by the New York State Writers Institute about this honor that has been given to Joe Bruchac, please click here.
On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, Joseph Bruchac was honored as the first Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs at a ceremony that took place at 7 p.m. at Saratoga Springs City Hall, 474 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. The Vermont Abenaki Artists Association is privileged to call Joseph Bruchac one of our own. His titles are many: author, writer, Doctor, poet, Tribal Elder, storyteller. His children’s books (and there are over 120 of them) can be found in most school libraries.
Enrolled Citizen of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation
Juried Artist since 2018 – Master Artist: Music
Joseph Bruchac lives in the Adirondack Mountains of New York in the house where his grandparents raised him. An enrolled citizen of the Nulhegan Band of the Abenaki Nation, much of his work draws on his native ancestry.
He and his sons, James and Jesse, work together in projects involving Native language renewal, traditional Native skills, and environmental education at their Ndakinna Education Center (www.ndakinnacenter.org) on their 90 acre nature preserve.
Author of over 180 books for young readers and adults, his experiences include teaching in Ghana, running a college program in a maximum security prison and 40 years of teaching martial arts.A featured storyteller at numerous festivals, including the British Storytelling Festival, Clearwater, Corn Island, and the National Storytelling Festival, his Keepers of the Earth books (co-authored with Michael Caduto), which use traditional Native American stories to teach science, have over a million copies in print.
“His novel CODE TALKER, about the Navajo marines in World War II who used their language to create an unbreakable code, was named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best books of all time for young adults.”
