海角大神

There was a time when acclaimed author James Welch worried whether anyone would appreciate reading literature from a native American point of view.

鈥淚 began to think that maybe鈥� life on the reservation was hopeless. Nevertheless, I began to write poems about the country and the people I come from,鈥� Mr. Welch, the subject of today鈥檚 Google Doodle, once wrote.

Those concerns were put to bed long ago, after his novels and poetry based on his rich observations of life growing up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Mont., gained him international recognition, especially in Europe.

Now, on what would have been his 76th birthday, an image of Mr. Welch (1940-2003), who is known as a founding member of the literary Native American Renaissance, will spend the next 24 hours watching over Googlers around the world whenever they visit the ubiquitous search engine鈥檚 homepage.

Welch, whose famous works include his first book of poetry, 鈥淩iding the Earthboy Forty,鈥� and his first novel, 鈥淲inter in the Blood,鈥� is being recognized at a time when long-marginalized native American communities are pushing to the forefront of national consciousness in ways that he may not have imagined.

For one thing, President Obama will next week posthumously bestow the聽Medal of Freedom聽on Elouise Cobell, a leader of the Blackfeet tribe and advocate for native American rights.

But more prominently, for months now, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota and others from around the nation, backed by various celebrities, have garnered international media attention in their persistent protests against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline.聽

鈥淭here鈥檚 an awakening happening now ... 聽and First Nations around the world are leading that awakening,鈥� Joseph Hock, a native American protester at Standing Rock,聽told 海角大神 earlier this month.

As the protesters, at least some of whom prefer to be referred to as 鈥渨ater protectors,鈥� continue to blockade the site where the DAPL is proposed to pass under the Missouri river, they see the native American stance against the pipeline and broader environmental issues as relevant far beyond their immediate context.

鈥淭he issues are resonating throughout Indian country, throughout indigenous peoples, throughout the world,鈥� says Bob Gough, secretary of the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy.

鈥淚ndigenous people around the world are taking a stand in a time of rapidly accelerating climate change,鈥� he told the Monitor. 鈥淭his becomes the tip of the spear, the case in point of where the fossil fuel industry is threatening life itself.鈥�

Welch鈥檚 work was described by The New York Times at the time of his passing as 鈥渆xploring the complex relationship between his origins and the world outside.鈥� 聽

鈥淗appily, I was wrong in thinking that nobody would want to read books written by American Indians about American Indians and their reservations and landscapes,鈥� Welch once wrote.