House Made of Dawn

House Made of Dawn

• Genre: Literary fiction; Native American literature
• Originally Published: 1968
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 970L; College/Adult
• Structure/Length: Novel divided into 4 parts; approx. 212 pages; approx. 6 hours and 29 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: House Made of Dawn is a novel by Native American author N. Scott Momaday. The central conflict revolves around Abel, a young Native American man and World War II veteran from the Kiowa tribe who returns to his ancestral lands in New Mexico. Abel struggles to reconcile his traditional Native American identity with the challenges and disorientation of the modern world. The novel explores themes of cultural displacement, identity, spirituality, and the clash between Native American and Western cultures. N. Scott Momaday’s story is deeply rooted in Native American traditions and offers a powerful exploration of the Native American experience in the 20th century.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Themes of cultural displacement, identity, and the impact of war; some use of outdated and offensive language; conflicts relating to substance use disorder

N. Scott Momaday, Author

• Bio: Born 1934; Native American author and Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist, poet, and essayist; draws from his Kiowa heritage and Native American culture; known for his contributions to Native American literature and his exploration of themes related to identity, culture, and the natural world
• Other Works: The Way to Rainy Mountain (1969); The Ancient Child (1989)
• Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1969)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• The Power of Stories
• Life After the Apocalypse
• Ritual, Witchcraft, and Whiteness

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will:

• Deepen understanding of Jemez Pueblo, the historiography of Indigenous history, and modern Indigenous history to contextualize the text and increase understanding of the novel’s characters, conflicts, and themes.
• Read/study short paired texts and other resources to analyze, compare, and discuss themes related to The Power of Stories, Life After the Apocalypse, and Ritual, Witchcraft, and Whiteness.
• Discuss and analyze historical and textual elements such as style, conflict, symbolism, allusion, characterization, and structure, and construct essay responses tying these elements to the novel’s meaning.
• Explore unity within the novel by close reading, discussing, and creating a visual representation of the relationships between Momaday’s style, themes, and messages.