Marilou awiakta biography examples

          Marilou Awiakta, Cherokee and Appalachian poet, storyteller, and essayist, was born in Knoxville in and reared in Oak Ridge..

          I grew up on the atomic frontier, the seventh generation of a Cherokee-Appalachian family rooted in the mountains of East Tennessee.

        1. I grew up on the atomic frontier, the seventh generation of a Cherokee-Appalachian family rooted in the mountains of East Tennessee.
        2. Awiakta has said, “My culture has three heritages: Cherokee, Appalachian, and the atom.” She was born January 24, , in Knoxville.
        3. Marilou Awiakta, Cherokee and Appalachian poet, storyteller, and essayist, was born in Knoxville in and reared in Oak Ridge.
        4. Marilou Awiakta is an American writer known for her poetry and essays about her experiences growing up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
        5. Nationally and internationally known as a poet, essayist, and storyteller, Marilou Awiakta is also an activist, community leader, and environmental advocate.

          6. Marilou Awiakta

          ©DPI Jan 2010 | Photo by Fine Films

          Internationally Acclaimed Native American Poet, Storyteller, Essayist

          I grew up on the atomic frontier, the seventh generation of a Cherokee-Appalachian family rooted in the mountains of East Tennessee.

          I was born in Knoxville. In 1945, when I was nine, we moved to nearby Oak Ridge, a federal “reservation.” At that point, the culture of the atom — and the atom itself — became entwined in my life forever.

          Oak Ridge was a secret city of 75,000 with a mysterious industry. Its purpose was known only to a few at the top of government. Employees like my father knew only that their jobs were urgent.

          The city was locked down with a perimeter fence.

          Marilou Awiakta is a poet whose perspective fuses her Cherokee, Scots-Irish, and Appalachian heritage with experiences of growing up in Oak Ridge.

          Each plant where people worked was inside a fence, inside a fence, inside a fence. Absolute secrecy. No one could speak of what they did, even to their families. It was as if my father disappeared into a mystery and came home from a mystery.

          To me, it was very ad