Hundreds of Dartmouth students, alumni and guests gathered in Rollins Chapel Friday afternoon to honor the celebrated author Michael Dorris, the founder of Dartmouth's Native American Studies program who died in a Concord motel last month.
The service was an opportunity for those close to Dorris to honor his memory and to celebrate his achievements.
Rev. Gwendolyn King, the service's officiant, introduced the ceremony as a "chance to thank God for Michael's presence among us and to pay tribute to his life among us."
Opening remarks by College President James Freedman followed King's introduction. Freedman said he remembered the thoughtful invitation Dorris extended to him to Thanksgiving dinner his first year in Hanover.
Freedman also praised Dorris' courage in writing about fetal alcohol syndrome and said Dorris took the time to respond to each of the 2,000 letters he received after the publication of his first book, The Broken Cord, a description of life with his adopted son, Abel, a victim of fetal alcohol syndrome.
Dorris "must have felt terribly alone in his last days," Freedman said. "Because he was our dear friend, it is especially painful to think of him in this way."
Chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program Marysa Navarro-Aranguren said she met Dorris in 1971 when he came to Dartmouth for a job interview.
A tearful Navarro-Aranguren said Dorris surprised her by bringing his son to the interview, but that he "was attentive to his son and treated him gently."
Navarro-Aranguren, herself a single-parent, said she noticed Dorris "did not scare easily and had a stubborn streak," qualities that would be useful in his struggle to found the Native American Studies program at the College.
Dorris' "energy and passion for the program, and more importantly for his students, seemed all consuming" but Dorris continued to devote time to his children and loved to dance and party, she said.
Bruce Duthu '80, former director of the Native American program at Dartmouth, called Dorris a "warrior for native people."
Dorris relished "the battle" to dispel stereotypes about Native Americans and "took more than his share" of hateful letters and phone calls, he said.
Duthu recalled one incident when two Dartmouth alumni, clad in hats with Indian symbols and shouting "wahoo-wah," "soiled the floor [of Dorris' office] with human waste."
"I love Michael and I love his family and my heart aches for all of them," he said.
Dean of the Faculty James Wright said Dorris' "words will meet whatever test of endurance history could have imposed" and encouraged the audience to remember "Michael as colleague, as teacher, as friend."
Michael Hanitchak '73 and Dorris' editor at Scribner Publishing Susan Moldow read from Dorris' works The Broken Cord and The Cloud Chamber.
A mixture of Native American and western traditions, the service included both Christian prayers and Native American songs and dances.
Howard Bad Hand '73 asked Dorris' "soul to move forward to the spirit world," by performing a Native American cleansing ritual.
Dorris' mother and two aunts were presented with a quilt to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Native American Studies program at Dartmouth during a Native American drum ritual.
After the quilt's presentation, mourners hugged and shook hands with Dorris' mother and aunts. Dorris was found dead on April 11 after he checked into a Concord motel under an assumed name and committed suicide.
He is survived by his wife, poet and novelist Louise Erdrich, who was divorcing him at the time of his death, and five children.
