House Made of Dawn

The novel House Made of Dawn, by N. Scott Momaday, was first published in 1968. Heralded as a major landmark in the emergence of Indigenous American literature, the novel won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. House Made of Dawn blends fictional and nonfictional elements to depict life on an Indigenous American reservation like the one where Momaday grew up.

This guide uses an eBook version of the 2018 First Harper Perennial Modern Classics (50th Anniversary) edition.

Content Warning: This guide describes alcohol addiction.

Plot Summary

Abel is the young protagonist of House Made of Dawn. After serving in World War II, he returns to Walatowa (also called Jemez), the small town in New Mexico where he grew up. The war has traumatized Abel, and he drinks so heavily that he barely recognizes his grandfather when he returns to his grandfather’s farm. He stays with Francisco, his grandfather, and visits the local priest, Father Olguin. Through the priest, Abel meets Angela, a young white woman who has come to the area to visit the local mineral springs. After Abel does chores for Angela, such as chopping wood, she initiates a romantic affair with him.