A Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian, Sherman Alexie (1966—) grew up on a reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. He is the author of eight poetry collections, including The Business of Fancydancing, which was later made into a movie, I Would Steal Horses, and The Man Who Loves Salmon. He has also published novels and several volumes of short fiction, and co-wrote the movie Smoke Signals, based on his short story “This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” Alexie has noted that Native American storytellers “are spokespeople. We are cultural ambassadors. We are politicians. We are activists. We are all of this simply by nature of what we do, without even wanting to be."