April 7, 1997 Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 EUGENE--Some of the nation's best Native American scholars, poets and writers will bring their unique perspective to the University of Oregon Native American Literature Conference, May 14-17. Conference organizer Sidner Larson says the current renaissance of Native American thought and art makes the UO event both timely and unprecedented. "American Indian writers such as Pulitzer Prize winner N. Scott Momaday have found their audience by blending a tribal world view with the Euro-American world view," says Larson, UO assistant professor of English. "The result is a Native American renaissance that seeks to combine the best of mainstream culture with that of American Indian cultures and may help with pressing problems such as how to heal our damaged environment and slow the disintegration of our social fabric," Larson adds. Larson says it's an unprecedented academic gathering that will examine the history of Native American intellectuals in the United States with an eye toward applying that history to the future. Speakers include Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist N. Scott Momaday, Regent's Professor of English at the University of Arizona, whose work began the modern Native American literary renaissance; Joy Harjo, a leading Native American poet; James Welch, poet, novelist and author of the nonfiction book "Killing Custer," who wrote the script for the documentary "Last Stand at the Little Bighorn," which aired on the 1992 PBS series "The American Experience"; Robert Warrior, Native American history scholar and professor of English at Stanford University; and Arnold Krupat, a leading scholar of Native American literature and English literature professor at Sarah Lawrence College. The Oregon Humanities Center and the Luther S. and Dorothy Cecilia Cressman Memorial Lecture in the Humanities are sponsors of the May 14-17 conference, part of a series that illuminates fundamental humanities issues that confront, but are too often ignored by, societies centrally occupied with science, technology and business. Co-sponsors include the Office of the President, the Visiting Scholars Fund of the Office of Academic Affairs, the College of Arts and Sciences, the UO Center for the Study of Women in Society, the departments of English, history, religious studies and Romance languages, the UO Institute for a Sustainable Environment, and the UO Native American Student Union. All events are free and open to the public, but pre-registration is recommended. For more information or to register, call (541) 346-5500 or write to the Native American Literature Conference, Oregon Humanities Center, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5211. -30- #P-6060/Local,A&E,OrDailies,Native American Media,OW,OMA