Michael Dorris(1945-1997)
- Writer
Michael Dorris graduated from Georgetown University in 1967 and earned
a Masters Degree in anthropology from Yale. His Native American
ancestry (he was part Modoc Indian) led him to found a Native American
Studies Program at Dartmouth College, where he began teaching in 1972.
He also adopted three Native American children suffering from fetal
alcohol syndrome (FAS). He later married novelist Louise Erdrich and
had three biological children. He published 14 books, including 'A
Yellow Raft in Blue Water' (1987) and 'The Broken Cord' (1989). The
latter book was an account of the family's struggles with FAS, and won
the National Book Critics Circle Award. Dorris won great respect for
having adopted three FAS children; at that time, little was known about
the condition, or what to expect when parenting a FAS child, and
Dorris' work put FAS on the map. However, Dorris suffered from severe
depression, and he and Erdrich separated in 1996. That December, an
investigation was initiated against Dorris in Hennepin County,
Minnesota, upon suspicion that he had sexually abused one of his
daughters. Facing criminal charges, Dorris hung himself in a New
Hampshire hotel room.
