N. Scott Momaday, the novelist and poet who became the first Native American author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, has died at 89, the Associated Press reports.

Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, and was a member of the Kiowa tribe. He was raised in Arizona and New Mexico and educated at the University of New Mexico and Stanford University.

In 1968, he published his first novel, House Made of Dawn, which follows Abel, a young Native American man who returns to his reservation after serving in World War II. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize and is considered a milestone of Native American literature.

He wrote several other books in the following years, including the novel The Ancient Child, the memoir The Names, and nonfiction books including The Man Made of Words and Earth Keeper. In 2007, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by then-President George W. Bush.

Momaday’s admirers paid tribute to him on social media. On X, formerly known as Twitter, journalist Jacqueline Keeler wrote, “Such a loss! It sometimes seems these great stalwarts of Native Lit will always be there for us. Rest in Power Momaday.”

And filmmaker Adam Piron posted, “my people lost a legend and gained an ancestor today. Momaday’s writing has meant so much to me as an artist and as a Kiowa. i was fortunate enough to meet him once through some family that knew him, but what a life and body of work he leaves behind. Aho!”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.