Volume VI Special Issue VI September 2026

Name of Author : N R Gopal

Title of the paper : Sacred Silence as Survival in Native American Literature

Abstract: The present paper posits the idea that instead of being an indicator of absence, passivity, or being sidelined within Native American literature, silence is a complex Indigenous epistemology in which knowledge, memory, spirituality, and sovereignty are maintained. Native American writers often use the In-Between in ways that can be considered cultural, ethical, and political. The use of silence as a strategy by Native American writers contradicts the literary traditions of the West, which favor speaking. Examining the works of Leslie Marmon Silko, N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, and Tommy Orange, this study will show how silence is an active, insurgent storytelling strategy to resist the colonial moments narrative, to preserve the sacred, to rebuild the collective memory, and to assert Indigenous authority. The paper makes a contribution to Indigenous literary studies by foregrounding the concept of silence in Indigenous literature not simply as a stylistic factor but as a central component of Indigenous narrative theory.

Keywords : Indigenous Epistemology, Silence, Native American Literature, Storytelling, Decolonization.

DOI :

Page Number : 159-165