Leslie Marmon Silko was born in Albuquerque N.M. of mixed ancestry -- Laguna Pueblo, Mexican and white. She
       studied at the University of New Mexico and later entered law school before deciding to do graduate work in
       English and devote herself to a literary career, Ms. Silko taught at the Navajo Community College in Arizona and
       at the University of New Mexico. She is the recipient of a five year MacArthur Foundation grant to pursue her
       writing, as well as her numerous literary awards. Her talent to tell stories that are both self-defining and
       celebratory of her community has advanced an art that employs many forms: poetry, short stories, legendary
       tales, a novel, and film scripts. Leslie Marmon Silko's publications & collections include Laguna Woman,
       Ceremony, Storyteller and Lullaby, and Writers of the Purple Sage. Her stories have appeared in
       numerous magazines and collections.

http://www.narf.org/profiles/nsc/silko.htm