"I write mainly to set the record straight about Indians," said Rayna Diane Green, educator, folklorist, and Cherokee Native American. She added that she will also "write about anything that interests me, regardless of the subject--Indians, women, food, science. Green was born in Dallas, Texas, on July 18, 1942, to Floyd Franklin and Ann Naomi Burns. She was educated at Southern Methodist University where she received a B.A. in 1963 and an M.A. in 1966. She later earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University in Bloomington.

In 1971, Green began her teaching career at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Although an assistant professor of English, she also taught folklore, a long-held interest. In popular usage, the term "folklore" is generally restricted to oral literature tradition, but in the academic discipline, it refers to all oral or handed-down tradition--literature, culture, customs. Green continued her interest in folklore when she joined the...