Simon J. Ortiz, a member of the Acoma Pueblo, comes from a legacy of indigenous people who have lived in the same place since their sense of the beginning of time. His genre‐crossing writings reflect the heritage of location, community, and language. Ortiz was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1941. He was reared in the village of McCartys, where his family spoke their native Keres language. After working in a uranium mine and a stint in the military, Ortiz attended school at Ft. Lewis, Colorado and the University of New Mexico. As a student at the MFA workshop at the University of Iowa, Ortiz joined the rank of university‐trained American Indian writers like N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa), James Welch (Blackfeet), and Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo). Although sometimes categorized as a writer of the Native American Renaissance, Ortiz's awardwinning writing reveals a timeless heritage that ties back to place, language, and sovereignty.