ABSTRACT
Let me suggest that there are three requirements for the development of any critical approaches to Native American literature: first, there must be a recognition of the fact that there is such a thing as Native American literature; second, there must be an understanding of the languages in which and the means by which that literature is presented; and, third, there must be a knowledge of the culture whose concerns that literature expresses and addresses. All three of these requirements would appear to be self-evident, although, in fact, the third has recently been called into question from two apparently different, although ultimately similar perspectives. But let us examine each of these items in turn.
