Studia Filologiczne UJK

Summary

The article discusses the importance and influence of the Vanishing Indian myth in the poetry and novels of Blackfeet James Welch. Kenneth Lincoln in his book Native American Renaissance named Welch as one of the leading luminaries of native literary revival in the United States. Native American experiences presented by Welch are complex. He challenges both simplistic narratives of assimilation and extinction as only possible ways of mutual coexistence of Indians and non-Indians. These narratives conceptualize the myth of a culture that passes away.