author
David Cusick
d. 1839
An early Tuscarora writer and artist, he is remembered for preserving Haudenosaunee history and origin stories in English at a time when very few Native authors were published. His small but influential book remains a landmark in Native American literature.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born around 1780 in upstate New York, David Cusick was a Tuscarora writer, artist, and tradition keeper. He is best known for Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations, first published in 1827, a brief but important work that brings together Haudenosaunee origins, migrations, and historical memory.
Cusick's book is often described as one of the earliest works on Native American history and myth written and published in English by a Native author. That makes it important not only as a literary work, but also as a rare early record of Indigenous perspectives told for a broad reading public.
Details of his life are limited, and even the exact year of his death is not fully certain in the sources I found, though it is commonly given as around 1840. No clear portrait photograph of him appears to survive, which is not unusual for an author of his era.