[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 30 (Thursday, February 15, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN MEMORY OF THE HONORABLE N. SCOTT MOMADAY

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 15, 2024

  Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor N. Scott Momaday 
for his remarkable and unforgettable life, a legend to the last word. 
Mr. Momaday passed away on Wednesday, January 24 in Santa Fe, New 
Mexico at the age of 89. I offer my sincerest condolences to his 
family. They are in my prayers to find peace and healing.
  Mr. Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma on February 27, 1934. After 
moving to Arizona, his family moved to Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, also 
known as Walatowa--meaning the ``people of the valley.'' There is no 
surprise in my mind as to why N. Scott Momaday was inspired by this 
beautiful place, which was often featured in his brilliant works.
  Indeed, Mr. Momaday received the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for 
his House Made of Dawn, which is largely credited with igniting a wave 
of modern Native American literature. He showed us the power of 
storytelling and the oral tradition--of bringing imagination to life--
and shed light on the Native experience and culture. As he once said, 
``Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves.''
  Mr. Momaday also reminded us of the importance of the land. He wrote, 
``We Americans must come again to a moral comprehension of the earth 
and air. We must live according to the principle of a land ethic. The 
alternative is that we shall not live at all.''
  Today I say thank you to N. Scott Momaday for these stories that 
preserve the beauty of our lands so that in a changing world, they 
remain indispensable to our collective well-being for years to come.
  Mr. Momaday will be forever remembered across Native America and New 
Mexico. His writing sparked our imagination and took our hearts to 
places our bodies have never touched. He had the ability to paint the 
picture of a story through the finesse of power in his words. He 
created space necessary for creative culture to follow. For all this 
and more, we recognize N. Scott Momaday for his indelible influence on 
the state of New Mexico and to the United States of America.

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