Born in 1939 in Cubero, New Mexico, Paula Gunn Allen╒s heritage was part Sioux and part Lebanese American. At San Francisco State University she earned three degrees: a B.A. in English, an M.F.A. in creative writing, and a Ph.D. in Native American Studies. In 1970, she was invited to teach in the newly-formed Native American Studies program at the University of New Mexico.
Returning ╥to the sacred hoop of my grandmother╒s ways,╙ she began in her writing to focus on the experiences of Native American women. Her first novel, The Woman Who Owned the Shadows, 1983, wove traditional tribal songs, rituals and legends into the story of a woman of mixed heritage whose struggle for survival is aided by Spider Grandmother, an ancient figure from tribal mythology. In The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions, 1986, she argued that feminist and Native American perspectives on life are compatible, claiming that traditional tribal lifestyles were never patriarchal and were generally based on ╥spirit-centered, woman-focused worldviews.╙ An anthology, Spider Woman╒s Granddaughters: Traditional Tales & Contemporary Writing by Native American Women, 1989, presented stories to be read as ╥tribal women╒s literature, an old and honored literary tradition in its own right.╙
Allen has edited several general works on Native American writing, including the pioneering Studies in American Indian Literature, 1983, Grandmothers of the Light: A Medicine Woman╒s Source Book, 1991, andVoice of the Turtle: American Indian Literature, 1900╨1970, 1994. She also published seven collections of poetry, including The Blind Lion, 1974, Coyote╒s Daylight Trip, 1978, Starchild, 1981, A Cannon Between My Knees, 1981, Shadow Country, 1982, Wyrds, 1987, and Skins and Bones, 1988. Much of her poetry reflects her views as an antiwar and antinuclear activist, as well as a feminist and Native American.
Besides teaching Native American studies at the University of New Mexico, Allen has taught in the department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the University of California at Los Angeles.
