Sandra Scofield reads to participants of Children of the Sun Headstart on the Spokane Indian Reservation. The children also taught Sandra how to say the names of several animals in their Native language.

After spending a week on the Spokane Indian Reservation five years ago, Sandra Scofield made a return visit in early May, 2000. The residency was once again co-hosted by Spokane Tribal College, a satellite of Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana. Mikki Samuels, Library Director at Spokane Tribal College, was the main liaison who worked with The National Book Foundation to coordinate Ms. Scofield's residency.

Sandra's revisit follows the Foundation's practice of making a concerted effort to maintain a relationship with all of the Native American communities we work with, as well as to reach out to new ones each year. Once a Reservation participates in the American Voices program, they are automatically rescheduled for another visit (because of the popularity of the program, these revisits usually take place approximately 4 years from the date of the original residency).

As part of her American Voices residency on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Sandra Scofield shared lunch and gave a reading and talk for elders at the Senior Center in the nearby town of Ford. Photo credits: Meg Kearney

During her five-day stay, Sandra met with students and adults of all ages. She spoke with English classes at Spokane College, as well as students in kindergarten through twelfth grade at the nearby Wellpinit School. On two separate days, she read stories to the little ones at the Children of the Sun Head Start, also in Wellpinit. In addition, she met with kindergarten through eighth graders at the Springdale School; and shared lunch and read to the elders at the Senior Center in Ford.

In preparation for her visit, all participating students and teachers received a free copy of Ms. Scofield's book, More than Allies, courtesy of The Permanent Press. The National Book Foundation also made book donations to the College library.

Though Sandra varies the length and sophistication of her talks and readings for different age groups, her focus is always on story. She emphasizes that everyone has a story to tell and that each person's words are valid and important. Her discussions and writing exercises aim to draw out each individual's personal stories, based on what they know at their age. Here is a poem she wrote with the third and fourth graders at the Wellpinit School:

"What I Know"

I live on the Rez.
I am strong (and short).
I ride bikes.
I war dance.
I play in the woods.
I work in my grandpa's fields.
I read books.
I ride horses.
I know names of trees,
names of snakes. I know
how to speak Indian.
I know the trails in the woods
are really old.

-- Mark Gray's classroom, May 8, 2000

On the last evening of her residency, Sandra shared dinner and then gave a reading at Spokane College, which was attended by several members of the nearby community.

Leadership support for American Voices is provided by the Lannan Foundation, with additional funding from the National Endowment on the Arts, Michel Roux/Grand Marnier Foundation, Olivia Goldsmith, and Deborah E. Wiley.

Book donations to participants and Spokane Tribal College were made by Cliff Street Books/HarperCollins; Epicenter Press; Moyer Bell; WW Norton, The University of Nebraska Press, the University of Arizona Press, and Viking Books.

Sandra Scofield is the author of seven novels, including Beyond Deserving, a 1991 Finalist for The National Book Award and Winner of the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. Her book A Chance to See Egypt won the Texas Institute of Letters 1997 Fiction Award, and was nominated for the 1998 Dublin International Impac Awards. She has been a Finalist three times for the Oregon Book Awards.

Sandra has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oregon Institute of Letters. Her work has been critically acclaimed and praised for its depiction of the lives of "ordinary" people. (She is quick to say that lives are seldom, if ever, ordinary.)

Sandra has served as a judge for numerous writing awards, including the Texas Institute of Letters Fiction Awards, the Chicago Tribune Fiction Awards, the Washington State Arts Council Fellowships, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is a regular contributor to the book pages of the Chicago Tribune, the Oregonian, the Dallas Morning News, and Newsday. Her essay, "Writing from Love and Grief and Fear" was published in The Writing Life, an anthology published by Random House for The National Book Foundation.

Sandra has served as faculty for workshops at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival.

A graduate of the University of Texas and the University of Oregon, Sandra holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction. She was on the faculty of Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University) and is now an Adjust Professor of English. She has visited several colleges to read and work with students, including the University of Arkansas, Macalaster College, and the University of New Mexico.

Sandra also has extensive experience as an educational planner, working with school districts in Montana, Alaska, and Oregon; and at Southern Oregon State College, she chaired a committee that developed the special education program. She lives in Oregon with her husband and devotes herself to writing full-time.