John Joseph Mathews: Life of an Osage Writer (Volume 69) (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series)

John Joseph Mathews (1894–1979) is one of Oklahoma’s most revered twentieth-century authors. An Osage Indian, he was also one of the first Indigenous authors to gain national renown. Yet fame did not come easily to Mathews, and his personality was full of contradictions. In this captivating biography, Michael Snyder provides the first book-length account of this fascinating figure. Known as “Jo” to all his friends, Mathews had a multifaceted identity. A novelist, naturalist, biographer, historian, and tribal preservationist, he was a true “man of letters.” Snyder draws on a wealth of sources, many of them previously untapped, to narrate Mathews’s story. Much of the writer’s family life—especially his two marriages and his relationships with his two children and two stepchildren—is explored here for the first time. Born in the town of Pawhuska in Indian Territory, Mathews attended the University of Oklahoma before venturing abroad and earning a second degree from Oxford. He served as a flight instructor during World War I, traveled across Europe and northern Africa, and bought and sold land in California. A proud Osage who devoted himself to preserving Osage culture, Mathews also served as tribal councilman and cultural historian for the Osage Nation. Like many gifted artists, Mathews was not without flaws. And perhaps in the eyes of some critics, he occupies a nebulous space in literary history. Through insightful analysis of his major works, especially his semiautobiographical novel Sundown and his meditative Talking to the Moon , Snyder revises this impression. The story he tells, of one remarkable individual, is also the story of the Osage Nation, the state of Oklahoma, and Native America in the twentieth century. John Joseph Mathews (1894-1979) is one of Oklahoma's most revered twentieth-century authors. An Osage Indian, he was also one of the first indigenous authors to gain national renown. Yet fame did not come easily to Mathews, and his personality was full of contradictions. In this captivating biography, Michael Snyder provides the first book-length account of this fascinating figure. Known as "Jo" to all his friends, Mathews had a multifaceted identity. A novelist, naturalist, biographer, historian, and tribal perservationist, he was a true "man of letters." Snyder draws on a wealth of sources, many of the previously untapped, to narrate Mathew's story. Born in the town of Pawhuska in Indian Territory, Mathews attended the University of Oklahoma before venturing abroad and earning a second degree from Oxford. He served as a flight instructor during World War I, traveled across Europe and northern Africa, and bought and sold land in California. A proud Osage, Mathews also served as tribal councilman and cultural historian for the Osage Nation. Despite Mathew's claim that he lived a nearly perfect life, his was a life beset as much by disappointment as by success. Snyder reveals problems that plagued Mathews for decades: a painful divorce from his first wife, estrangement from his children, writer's block, and alcoholism. Much of the writer's family life - especially his two marriages and his relationships with his two children and two stepchildren - is explored here for the first time. Like many gifted artists, Mathews was not without flaws. And perhaps in the eyes of some critics, he occupies a nebulous space in literary history. Through insightful analysis of his major works, especially his semiautobiographical novel Sundown and his meditative Talking to the Moon, Snyder revises this impression. The story he tells, of one remarkable individual, is also the story of the Osage Nation, the state of Oklahoma, and Native America in the twentieth century. -- from dust jacket CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOREWORD SILVER SPUR FLIGHT / SCHOOL OXFORD AND EUROPE FIRST FAMILY / CALIFORNIA DREAMING OSAGE LITERARY MAN THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTS MEXICO THE TRAGEDY OF LORENE SQUIRE THE MOON AND MARLAND SLOW MELT THROUGH TIME EVERYTHING IS A CIRCLE NOTES WORKS BY JOHN JOSEPH MATHEWS SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX