As concern grew for civil rights, equal opportunity, and other social issues during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, American Indians and Alaska Natives again received the attention of creative artists and writers. A new stereotype surfaced, as destructive as all the others. It is the view of Native Americans as victimized, dispossessed nomads, without culture and unable to cope in either the traditional world or in the world of assimilation and integration. The importance of American Indian and Alaska Native literature is revealed when Natives tell their own stories unvarnished by non-Indian interpretation. In these works, readers learn that the rugged individualism of the American frontier is antithetical to the sense of community in Native societies.
Picaresque heroes exist in Indian writing, but have trickster-like qualities.
The quest theme leads back home to one's roots where elders wait to teach Native ways to the young who may be floundering in alien cultures or questioning traditional ways. The writing style is often influenced by the aesthetically powerful oral narrative from which it springs. The shape and content of myths and legends influence what contemporary writers say. Visions and dreams play a vital role in the lives of traditional Natives and their influences are felt in contemporary writing. Like all culture, Native culture is not static.