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= = = = =THE POWWOW AT THE END OF THE WORLD=

SHERMAN ALEXIE

media type="custom" key="13351368" align="right" Sherman Alexie is a preeminent Native American poet, novelist, performer and filmmaker. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, Sherman grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. Alexie was born hydrocephalic and underwent an operation at six months of age; he was not expected to survive. Though he lived through the experience, he was plagued with seizures as a child and spent most of his childhood reading. In the eighth grade, he decided to attend Reardan High School, located twenty miles outside the reservation. His achievements in high school secured his admission to Spokane’s Jesuit Gonzaga University in 1985, where he had a successful academic career. Alexie has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2009 Mason Award, the 2008 Stranger Genius Award, a Pushcart Prize, the PEN/Malamud Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship, and numerous honorary degrees.

In "The Powwow at the End of the World," Alexie continues his exploration of the complexity of Native American identity and what he sees as the distortions of history.