Cheryl Savageau facts for kids

Cheryl Savageau (born April 14, 1950) is a writer and poet who self-identifies as being of Abenaki descent.

Biography

Savageau is of self-identified Abenaki and French descent. She claims that her father, Paul Savageau is of French and Abenaki descent, and that her mother, Cecile Meunier Savageau, is French-Canadian.

Savageau was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, but grew up in a small island neighborhood on Lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury. She refers to this lake and her childhood growing up along the shore in her children's book Muskrat Will Be Swimming. She graduated from Clark University with a Bachelor of Science degree with focus on English and Philosophy.

It was in college that she really discovered her passion for writing and the connection it gave her to readers. Poetry and storytelling became Savageau's outlet for sharing stories about her ancestors and her Native culture.

She was a founding member of Oak and Stone Storytellers, a storytelling group that told stories in concert to adults as well as to children in schools and libraries.

During her career, Savageau has won numerous awards for her work. Her children's book, Muskrat Will Be Swimming, was a Smithsonian Notable Book (1996) award winner, won the Skipping Stones Award for children's Environmental Books (1997), and the Best Children's Book Award (1997), from Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. For her work mentoring young and beginning writers, she was awarded Mentor of the Year from Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers (1998).

Savageau has also won various fellowships for poetry including the Massachusetts Artists Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Her writing focuses on retelling Abenaki stories, including the stories of women and the working class. Also a visual artist, she has exhibited her quilts, paintings and other works.