Jamake Highwater facts for kids

Jamake Highwater was an American writer and journalist. He was born as Jackie Marks on February 13, 1931, in Los Angeles, California. From the late 1960s, he began to claim he was of Cherokee and Native American background. He used the name Jamake Highwater for his many books and articles.

Highwater wrote over 30 books, including both fiction and non-fiction. His children's book, Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey (1973), won a special award called the Newbery Honor. He also made documentaries for PBS television about Native American culture. Later, in 1984, it was revealed that his claims about his Native American heritage were not true.

His Early Life and Identity

Jamake Highwater was born Jackie Marks in Los Angeles in 1931. His parents were Martha and Alexander Marks. Researchers later found his birth certificate, which showed his family had Eastern European Jewish roots. His father's military gravestone even had a Star of David, a Jewish symbol.

After moving to New York City around 1969, Jackie Marks started using the name Jamake Highwater. He began to say he was Native American. He told different stories about his background. Sometimes he said he was adopted from Montana by a Greek or Armenian family. Other times, he claimed his parents were Cherokee or Blackfoot and French.

He also said he earned a PhD degree by age 20, but there is no proof of this. A Native American scholar named Gerald Vizenor used the term "varionatives" to describe people like Highwater who pretended to be Native American.

His Work as a Writer

Highwater wrote many books for both adults and children. His books covered topics like music, art, poetry, and history. One of his most famous children's books was Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey (1973). This book earned him a Newbery Honor award.

In 1981, he published a non-fiction book called The Primal Mind: Vision and Reality in Indian America. This book was later made into a documentary film for PBS television in 1984. Highwater hosted the documentary himself. He also created a group called the Primal Mind Foundation. This group aimed to support studies about Native American spirituality.

Highwater became well-known across the country as a Native American figure. He made several other documentaries for PBS. In 1993, he even worked as a consultant for the TV show Star Trek: Voyager. He advised them on the Native American character named Chakotay.

Claims About His Background

By the late 1960s, Jackie Marks began using the name Jamake Highwater. He claimed to be of Native American ancestry, especially Cherokee. However, his stories about his background often changed and did not match up.

In 1984, a Native American activist named Hank Adams looked into Highwater's claims. Adams wrote an article that showed how Highwater's stories about his birthplace, birth date, parents, and education were inconsistent.

Between 1982 and 1983, Highwater received a lot of money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This money was given to him because he claimed to be Native American. Native American activists and thinkers argued that his works were not real and used stereotypes. They said he got the money by lying about his life.

A journalist named Jack Anderson also investigated Highwater in 1984. Anderson wrote a newspaper column called "A Fabricated Indian?" This column revealed the truth about Highwater's false identity.

After these reports came out, Highwater stopped saying he was Cherokee in his public materials. However, he continued to be seen as a Native American figure by many people. When asked why he pretended to be Cherokee, Highwater said he thought it was the only way he could become a successful writer.

Jamake Highwater passed away on June 3, 2001, from a heart attack. Even after his death, some newspapers repeated his false claims about his Native American past. Hank Adams wrote an open letter to set the record straight. He stated that Highwater was Jackie Marks, not Jamake Highwater, and that he had taken opportunities from real Native American writers.

Awards and Recognition

• His children's book Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey (1973) received a Newbery Honor.
• Several of his children's books won "Best Book for Young Adults" awards. These awards came from the American Library Association and School Library Journal.
• His book The Primal Mind: Vision and Reality in Indian America (1981) was turned into a PBS documentary film in 1984.

In Other Works

• The Native American scholar Gerald Vizenor wrote a novel in 1988 called The Trickster of Liberty. Some people believe that the character Homer Yellow Snow in this book was based on Jamake Highwater. In the novel, Yellow Snow asks his Native audience:

If you knew who you were, why did you find it so easy to believe in me? … because you want to be white, and no matter what you say in public, you trust whites more than you trust Indians, which is to say, you trust pretend Indians more than real ones.