Today’s Google doodle is dedicated to the Native American author James Welch on what would have been the novelist’s 76th birthday. Welch’s most famous work, “Fools Crow,” put a spotlight on the struggles of the Montana Blackfeet Indian tribe following the American Civil War.

Published in 1986, “Fools Crow” was awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the American Book Award and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award.

As a whole, Welch’s works emphasized the humanity of native peoples and their deep attachment to their homelands. Google Doodle Blog

Welch is credited with helping begin the Native American Renaissance, a literary movement fueled by other Native American authors celebrating their heritage and culture and highlighting the complex struggles of Native Americans.

Designed by Doodler Sophie Diao, the doodle features the author and leads to a search for “Writer James Welch.”

Welch’s work included four other novels, “Winter in the Blood,” “The Death of Jim Loney,” “The Indian Lawyer” and “The Heartsong of Charging Elk.” He also published the nonfiction book, “Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians,” and three books of poetry.

At age 62, Welch died from a heart attack while at home in Missoula, Montana.

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