SOURCE: Charles, Jim. “‘A World Full of Bones and Wind’: Teaching Works by James Welch.” English Journal 93, no. 4 (March 2004): 64-9.

In the following excerpt, Charles provides ideas and techniques for the effective teaching of Welch's work.

James Welch presented the NCTE [National Council For Teacher Education] Fund Lecture at the annual convention in Baltimore in 2001. I was in the audience and agree that he, indeed, deserved recognition as “an annual speaker who brings [NCTE members] a fresh perspective about the learning of language and literature in a cultural context different from their own” (NCTE). Welch read from his nonfiction work, Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians, and his latest novel, The Heartsong of Charging Elk, a historical novel set in the north-central plains of the United States and in Marseilles, France. He also answered questions from the audience. While...