Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs And Claims

by Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, Catherine S. Fowler (Foreword)

This autobiographical work was written by one of the country's most well-known Native American women, Sarah Winnemucca. She was a Paiute princess and a major figure in the history of Nevada; her tribe still resides primarily in the state. Life Among the Piutes deals with Winnemucca's life and the plight of the Paiute Indians. Life Among the Piutes is Winnemucca's powerful legacy to both white and Paiute cultures. Following the oral tradition of Native American people, she reaches out to readers with a deeply personal appeal for understanding. She also records historical events from a unique perspective. She managed to record the Native American viewpoint of whites settling the West, told in a language that was not her own and by a woman during the time when even white women were not allowed to vote. Sarah Winnemucca dedicated her life to improving the living and social conditions for her people. She gave more than 400 speeches across the United States and Europe to gain support for the Paiutes. She died of tuberculosis in 1891. Life Among the Piutes was originally published in 1883.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Indigenous, Memoir, Native American, Native American History

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins (1841–1891) was notable for being the first Native American woman known to secure a copyright and to publish in the English language. She was also known by her married name, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, under which she was published. Her book, Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims, is an autobiographical account of her people during their first forty years of contact with explorers and settlers. Sarah was a person of two worlds. At the time of her birth her people had only very limited contact with Euro-Americans; however she spent much of her adult life in white society. Like many people of two worlds, she may be judged harshly in both contexts. Many Paiutes view her as a collaborator who helped the U.S. Army kill her people. Modern historians view her book as an important primary source, but one that is deliberately misleading in many instances. Despite this, Sarah has recently received much positive attention for her activism. She was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 1993, and in 2005 a statue of her by sculptor Benjamin Victor was added to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol.

Reviews

[Julie G]

Brave deeds don't always get rewarded in this world.

Sarah Winnemucca was not a writer. She was a courageous Piute Indian who decided to start a lecture series in the East, informing others what was really happening between the Indians and the U.S. Government. Eventually she realized the wisdom of committing her story to paper. Who was reading it, when it was originally published in 1883? I can only wonder.



Ms. Winnemucca was a descendent of a long line of chiefs. She was Piute royalty, so to speak, and she had the rare vantage of witnessing and grasping much of the crucial history of the time.

This memoir of hers is quite valuable, and it is considered the “first outbreak of the American Indian in human literature,” but, unfortunately, the writing here is dense, and it is also painstakingly difficult to read. Considering that SHE was one of the few translators of her native language of the day, into English, she was tasked to be witness and communicator of her own story. It feels almost criminal to me that she couldn't have had something available to her, like a ghost writer, or an assistant.

I am choosing not to rate this work. I think it would be unfair to give a rating to something that is so rare and so historically important, even if it isn't “compelling” or “riveting” or easy on the eyes.

What makes this work so vital, and so different, from the other rare offerings from Indian leaders, around the same time: it was written by a woman.

Ms. Winnemucca has shared here many things, many horrible things that were done to her people, but she also brought to my attention how many Indian girls were raped by the white settlers and soldiers who were moving into the area at the time.

In the fourth chapter of her memoir, she tells the story of two young girls from her tribe who went missing while out in the woods. The Piute men, in their frenzy to find the missing girls, followed a track from the woods that led to a cabin where two brothers, white settlers, were living. When they questioned the men, they denied knowing anything about the girls.

Several days later, the girls were discovered, down in the cellar of that cabin. Their mouths were tied up with rags and they had been raped so many times, they were almost dead. The men of the Piute tribe made the decision to kill both of the brothers and burn their cabin. . . and the consequences of this action from the white settlers and soldiers came down like a fury upon the tribe.

As far as I'm concerned, any man who rapes a child should be burned alive, either before or after his house is set on fire, and if such justice had been enacted within any other white community at the time, no one would have blinked an eye.

This was a time in the American West when the penalty for horse theft was immediate death, but the lives of Indians were ranked at lower than dogs. And, Indian girls? Lower than that. (Please note that the person writing this review ranks most dogs higher than most humans).

The injustices that were committed against Indians like the Piutes are INFURIATING.

I think Sarah Winnemucca communicates all you need to know in these two sentences, when she describes what it was like to bear witness to her beloved grandfather's passing:

I think if he had put out his hands and asked me to go with him, I would gladly have folded myself in his arms. And now, after long years of toil and trouble, I think if our great Father had seen fit to call me with him, I could have died with a better opinion of the world.

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Known as the first autobiographical account by a Native American, this follows Sarah Winnemucca as she and her people encounter white settlers and the Army for the first time. Spanning roughly 40 years, it tells how her people, once free, were forced to become reliant on the U.S. government for their livelihoods. There's the usual hardships - losing their land, losing their lives, being shuffled from one reservation to another (often being forced to live with their enemies and sometimes under the supervision of less-than-honest Indian agents). She worked as an interpreter (sometimes being paid, sometimes not) and eventually came to be seen as the "mother" of her tribe in their negotiations with the whites.

Daughter of a war leader, older sister to another war leader, and a formidable woman in her own right, she was able to speak for her people to those who would listen. There were numerous times their complaints and trials were heard and sometimes even compensated, but it was obvious throughout all of this history that they were fighting a losing battle. They couldn't hunt, they were often made to work for scraps if they were lucky, were starved and even went without clothing for periods of time. She called out the "goodly, honest Christians" for their hypocrisies, often to their faces, and she even went on the lecture trail to bring the injustices of her people to the public eye. She was lucky to have friends in the Army, whom she worked for, and to have them listen to her and provide her with help. But even this could only go so far with the lawmakers in D.C. were making laws and breaking treaties.

It's a frustrating listen, and a far too familiar story.

The narrator was great and easy to follow.

[Don Gerstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those interested in the history of western America in the 1800’s, this personal memoir from Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins provides an interesting alternate view. Grand-daughter and daughter of Piute chiefs, Ms. Hopkins’ initial encounter with “white men” inspired fear (she believed they would eat her).

Ms. Hopkins overcame her fear and became a much-used interpreter between her tribe and the settlers and soldiers who assumed ownership of the land the Piutes had lived on for centuries. The book chronicles not only her personal history, but includes Ms. Hopkins’ struggle with remaining loyal to people who did not always follow through on their promises. It documents the first years of contact between the Piutes and the European American settlers.

The Appendix presents numerous letters from soldiers and citizens, most of them corroborating the information Ms. Hopkins presents in her book. As a historical memoir, this book is considered the first known autobiography by a Native American woman. It should also be thought of as a must-read for any student of American history. Five stars.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first autobiography written and published by a Native American woman, Sara Winnemucca Hopkins' Life Among the Piutes was originally released in 1883, and was edited by Mrs. Horace Mann. It follows Hopkins' story from her early childhood in northern Nevada (the author estimated that she was born "somewhere near 1844"), through her unusual education with white friends, her marriage to a U.S. Army officer and life on the Malheur Reservation, her work as a translator for the Army during the Bannock War, and concludes with her description of the "Yakima Incident," in which the Piutes (Paiutes) were forcibly marched from Nevada to Yakima, Washington.

Hopkins was apparently a well-known speaker, who gave more than four hundred speeches in support of Piute rights, in both the United States and Europe. Her activism is credited with drawing enough public attention to the injustices perpetrated against the Paiute people, that when they began escaping from Yakima in order to return to their homelands in Nevada, they were largely left alone. In the last years of her life, Hopkins also returned to Nevada, where she founded a number of schools for Native Americans.

Required reading in one of my classes in college, I had never heard of this work - or its author - before, and I was struck by the extraordinary nature of Hopkins' life journey. Born before white settlers had reached Nevada, Hopkins (whose Paiute name was "Thocmentony," meaning "Shell Flower") wasn't just a woman of two worlds in a cultural sense - she literally died in a different world than the one into which she was born.

I understand that Hopkins is considered controversial by some, and has been criticized both for her assimilationist ideas and for her assistance to the U.S. Army during the Bannock War. For my part, when I read these narratives of people caught up in times of extraordinary and unprecedented change, I am always amazed at what they ARE able to accomplish, and I frequently find myself wondering what I would have made of similar circumstances. In the end, I believe that Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins did the best with what she had, and however much we may disagree with some of her decisions, it cannot be denied that she never forgot her people, or ceased to fight for them. For that, and for her unique role in American history, she deserves to be remembered.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, the first one written by a Native American woman, tells the story of white people coming to northern Nevada and fucking it up. Native Paiute folks were extremely welcoming and, basically, got fucked for it. However, a shinning star named Sarah Winnemucca (granddaughter of Chief Winnemucca, for whom my current town is named) worked tirelessly for her people and got smashed quite a few times. The book chronicles her struggles to help her people get the rights and supplies they deserve (in a bit too much detail). Sarah Winnemucca tells the inspiring story of her life as a strong women who sticks up for herself.

Recommended to people who live in Nevada, people who are interested in American history and the struggles of Native Americans and women who want to be inspired by strong women's stories.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for the original work, 2 stars for the edition.

As this text is out of copyright, there seem to be many versions out there.

This edition could have been improved with images, footnotes to explain historical context, better paragraph and page layout. Also, there were appendixes referenced that weren’t in this edition.

Sarah’s words, though, are beautiful.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting account of the life and experiences of a tribe of Piute Indians during the 1800s, beginning in western Nevada under the leadership of Chief Winnemucca. The story is told by his granddaughter, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins. The Piutes were a peaceful tribe who got caught up in wars with other Indians and who were horribly mistreated by the United States government who made promises and broke them, leaving the poor Indians defenseless against the violence of humanity and Mother Nature, at one time forcing them to travel from their home in Malheur County, Oregon, across the Blue Mountains in dead of winter.

The story is especially meaningful to me right now because much of the tale takes place in familiar locale and on the Malheur Indian Reservation, the site of the recent militant actions at the Malheur Bureau of Land Management.

This is not a book with a happy ending, but Sarah Winnemucca was such an amazing woman, wanting only to do what was right, regardless of the outcome, she is an inspiration. She was employed as interpreter for the U.S. Army much of her life, and accomplished deeds of hardship that many men wouldn't even attempt. I hope she is at peace now in her spirit world.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

It definitely comes off as a book written in the 1800s when it comes to pacing and things of that nature, however it was a really interesting read (especially the last 50 pages) as Winnemucca becomes clearly aware of the reader. It is really interesting to see how the ideas about the proper roles of and protection for women, as well as the comparisons of 'Indians' as children/innocents and Whites as abusive parents were used to further a discussion of the abuses of white people and the US government, especially regarding the frequently forced relocation of the Piutes with little or no respect for their wishes as well as the appropriation of things they were promised (such as the produce of their crops). I read this book in an attempt to understand how trying to elicit support from a non-supportive audience can require a different position based on space-time (elite white US society of the 1880s vs liberal still-very-white US internet-located society of today) and can make positions more or less radical, and I definitely got a better understanding of that through this book.

[Forrest · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tragic story of the Northern Paiute tribe as experienced firsthand by Sarah Winnemucca, based on her narrative written sometime before her death in 1891.

I was compelled to read this as I am familiar with the Southern Paiutes in the Mojave Desert region of northern Arizona and southern Utah. Over a 9-year period, I traveled to a number of their reservations and got to know many of them and their situation on a work-related basis.

This was an interesting book to read. One can tell from reading it that the book is heavily edited. Many details are missing, and many of the people spoken of lack a sufficient introduction. Places, events, Sarah's travels, and other details are a little fuzzy. This is all very understandable, given that the author wrote this book in English and likely had a very rudimentary command of the language.

All in all, I could tell that Sarah was a very bright and gifted woman. She wrote very little about herself or her own life. I found it odd that she briefly mentions the untimely death of her mother and her sister but does not elaborate at all. She also mentions in passing that her sister, and possibly herself, had been raped and abused by white settlers, a very traumatic ordeal.... but does not elaborate any further. She gives no details on her marriages or the two white men she married. She focuses primarily on her tribe, yet she does write at length about her father, grandfather, brothers, and other male tribe members. It would have been nice to know more about Sarah, but she obviously did not intend for this to be a biography of herself.

The Northern Paiute were forced to move and were confined to reservations away from their own lands in the mid-1800s, their allotted territory shrinking over time. As a result, their land and resources were taken from them, and the primitive, nomadic means by which they had sustained themselves for centuries vanished.
In return, they were heavily taxed on the crops they produced on "government land" and were promised food, money, and other commodities, which were often absconded with and withheld from them by intermediaries such as government-appointed white or Native American "tribal agents" tasked with enforcing the rule of law and the apportionment of goods and services.

Corruption, abuse, and theft prevailed on these reservations. As a result, like other Native American tribes (and to this day) the Paiute culture never evolved naturally. Artificially sustained by government funding and handouts, those who have chosen to remain on many of these reservations have never flourished, which explains the sad and stunted state of many of these reservations today.

This is yet another tragic example of what inevitably happens when a nation or group of people are deprived of their cultural identity and become dependent on government.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is always fascinating to read the first person perspective of someone that lived in a time long past. Not only to hear of their lives without censorship and white washing, but to also hear the dialect of the time and to see how perspectives have or have not shifted.

These words were written back in 1883 by Sarah Winnemucca and unapologetically describe the conditions that surround the lives of the Piute Native Americans in California. It’s just disgraceful, disgusting, dishonorable, and deplorable how the government and white settlers treated the tribal nations.

Even so Sarah’s account still looks to see the best in those she meets with throughout her life. She accomplishes an astonishing amount and is held in high regard not only by her people but by many white men she interacts with. Her dialog about the structure of her tribe and its internal policies were fascinating – a high regard for women and their contributions that was missing in the American culture of the time. She writes fondly about the army men, as they seemed to be kind to the tribes vs the government representatives or towns folk they encounter, who hold a false superiority and condemnation of the tribe’s shear existence.

Whether it was government policy or through corruption, it is clear that the Piutes were severely taken advantage of and used as it they were objects and soulless. There are many accounts in the book of torture including live scalping by whites to natives, pervasiveness of rape against native women, habitual false accusations of crime and blatant stealing of the Native’s rations - these are all hard to hear about it detail, but are real and speak to a level of depravity that sits in the soul of men. Something too easily ignited by fear and group think.

It is important to look at the worst history has to provide so that it cannot manifest in the present. Only a true sociopath can listen to the first hand accounts of the suppressed and not feel empathy and humanity in the struggle, and feel shame on behalf of the privileged.

[John Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Winnemucca was a teacher, translator, tribal leader, and activist who lived from 1844 to 1891. This book, published in 1883, is not an autobiography. It includes much information about the author’s life but omits any references to her two brief marriages. Both husbands were white – Edward Bartlett 1872 and Lewis Hopkins 1881), but they are not discussed because they do not relate to the theme of the book. Instead the author focuses on her experiences collaborating with white army representatives, reservation agents, and even government representatives in Washington and delivering lectures to people on both coasts.

The author’s grandfather and father were both Paiute chiefs and the tribes over which they presided helped the US Army in its battles against Mexicans and belligerent tribes. They thought their efforts would be mutually beneficial, but few of the commitments made to the Paiutes were fulfilled.

Winnemucca praises several white people whom she encounters, but she is extremely critical of most of them. She supports her praise and criticism with detailed examples. She directs some of her strongest criticisms at Christians (especially Methodists) whose hypocrisy she finds disappointing. The Kindle search function shows that the term “Father” is used 424 times in this book. It is frequently used to refer to her father and to other biological fathers, but also to people in leadership positions, such as Great Father in Spirit-land (God) and Big Father in Washington (president). Because the Paiutes had this tendency to respect those referred to as “Father,” the failures of the Big Father in Washington to fulfill commitments left them disillusioned.

The book closes with a useful 23-page appendix of letters from Army officers who commend the author for her services and support her claims.

[Bonnye Reed]

EReaderCafe

[Paul Edlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a well written book - not that I expected it to be - but this should be required reading in Middle School, and certainly by anyone who has qualms about CRT.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this title in my reading​s​ about Native American culture and history. It was de​sc​ribed as the first known published account of NA life by a NA woman. Thus, I thought it might be interesting to read as a primary source in which one woman's experiences living during the mid to late 19th century would be articulated.

The author gained fluency in English because her father, who was a chief of the Piute tribe, had her enrolled in a boarding school ​as a child ​where she was required to learn the language and the customs of the European settlers colonizing the far wetsern USA. Her language skills allowed Ms. Winnemucca to work as a negotiator/translator for her people in their efforts to find a way to survive while their lands and lives were being exploited. It was in this role that she depicted the many conflicts​, some of which were life threatening,​ ​that ​she ​and her tribe ​went through. Ms. Winnemucca was criticized by some for being an assimilationist while the NA peoples were decimated by genocide and disease.

Written in a direct, uncomplicated prose ​the book​ is ​a ​highly readable​ portrait of this women, her family and peers, and their efforts to find a way to accommodate to the incursion of White settlers into their territory. ​ ​Her narrative gets ​a bit tedious at times because of the detail ​with which ​she relates her travels between modern day northern Nevada, eastern Oregon, south​eastern​ Washington, and southern Idaho. The ​harrowing ​account of their forced removal to Yakima Wa in the dead of winter where many of them died was gripping.​ It made me think of the so called Trail of Tears which took place in the American southeast during the Andrew Jackson administration. ​

Not being that familiar with the territory involved I found I had to interrupt my reading on many occasions in order to use Google maps to see more clearly just where she was talking about. I guess books published in 1883 did not include maps? It would have been easier​ reading if maps had been included.

​Additionally, the book ​might have been more interesting to me had I known more about the ​culture and the ​history of the Piute tribe before starting to read it. ​Now I will have to decide if I want to do more reading about this particular tribe or not. ​

At any rate​,​ it was informative to learn about one woman's perspective on the exploitation that ​she and her​ people had to suffer at the hands of ​BIA ​agents sent to purportedly 'help' them. Hollywood portrays the soldiers as cruel, if not ​often times ​murderous,​ ​in their dealings with our Indigenous people. Ms. Winnemuca, however, depict​ed​ the soldiers as often trying to protect them from White settlers out to take their lands whenever they could and ​to ​kill them at times​ when they resisted​.​ ​ I would need to do more research to determine which perspective is the more accurate one.

I would probably rate this book as a 3.5.

[Charles Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Piute Indians (also known as the Paiutes) lived in what is now Nevada before their first contact with whites. According to Piute legend, Indians and whites were once brothers and sisters, but were separated because they could not get along. So, when they had first contact with whites, Winnemucca, the main chief, saw it as a sign that the siblings were to once again be united. That relationship, however, took a bad turn when it transpired that the white expansion to the west was to displace, and in some instances, destroy, the indigenous culture.
In Life Among the Piutes, Sarah Winnemucca Parker, granddaughter of Winnemucca, tells the history of this first contact, through the forced removal of the Piutes from their ancestral home to reservations along with other tribes, and the many injustices visited upon the peaceful Piutes by greedy Indian agents and unscrupulous land grabbers.
First published in 1883, this was the first known publication by a Native American woman, and it details Sarah’s life and activities, leading her to become an activist on the East Coast for an enlightened Indian policy. Edited by Mrs. Horace Mann, it retains Sarah’s words and speech patterns, making it all the more profound. Rich in detail and unsparing in its descriptions of the privations suffered by Indian tribes in the face of the inexorable onslaught of westward expansion, it is a must-read for anyone who wants to know the true story of our country’s development.
I received a free copy of this recently-published e-book version of this ground-breaking work.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly amazing autobiography and first-hand account from Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins (born Thocmentony, meaning "Shell Flower”; c. 1844 – October 16, 1891) the grand-daughter of "Chief Truckee" (d. 1860), medicine chief of the Northern Paiute. I especially enjoyed the first part of the narrative, as it touches on Winnemucca recalling the tribe's first forty years of contact with European Americans during a time when her early childhood recollections give a dream-like quality to the first interactions. As the author recalls, “I was a very small child when the first white people came into our country. They came like a lion, yes, like a roaring lion, and have continued so ever since, and I have never forgotten their first coming.” Equally powerful in the opening act is her grandfather’s "talking rag" letter treated with reverence as a powerful amulet in dealing with these mysterious, unpredictable, dangerous, and powerful creatures. (This potent “rag” was a letter of introduction from John C. Frémont commending Truckee for his support during the Mexican–American War.) With adulthood, her role as interpreter and Paiute representative to the Indian Bureau and then the greater United States populace adds many levels of perspective to an all too typical tragedy of broken treaties, unnecessary violence, and concentration camp-like reservations.

[Lorena · Rating 5 out of 5]

What are the odds of finding a book, written in English, by an indigenous woman born in 1844? I think zero. Perhaps I am feeling more fortunate that the average person who has discovered this book because I am researching my own book that leans heavily on the Paiute history of this very period. But more than a history, Sarah Winexpresses everything through the lens of a wise, educated, sensitive woman, an adventuress with nerves of steel, and a passionate advocate for her people. When she was a young girl her people learned about the fate of the Donner party, and believed that white people ate not only each other, but Indians as well. Her mother told her the whites would eat the Paiute children if they found them, so the mothers and children all ran up into the mountains to hide. This fear of white people haunted Sarah until she was almost an adult, yet she ended up being a translator for the U.S. Army, and making many friends of whites all over the United States. No student of American and Native American history should miss reading this detailed, amazing account.

[Gordon Matassa · Rating 5 out of 5]

In addition to being the first known autobiography written in English by an American Indian woman, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins' Life Among the Piutes provides a vivid image of the Piute Indians' (or Paiutes) first encounters with white settlers, their subsequent battle for their rights, and their peaceful and ethical responses to their mistreatment. Winnemucca's polemic call to action in aid of American Indian people is a long-lasting force parallel to her lecture tour across the U.S. in the late 19th Century. Her accounts demonstrate the peaceful nature of her tribe and how they were taken advantage of by hypocritical white Christian settlers, ending with the forced movement to reservations away from their native lands. Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins' book is equatable to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin in terms of polemical calls to social action in favor of mistreated American minority cultures.

[David Radspinner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in a AIS 394 course on Native American Philosophy. I actually ended up choosing this book as my final paper in the course because i was able to really connect myself with the author. Once you understand that the author is NOT a writer, but rather a person who lived through an important time period, recognized this, and knew she had to record her experiences. Although my classmates joked it was a book that involved a lot of her crying, it has a lot of heart and does a wonderful job of humanizing the past during a time period that few study and read about outside maybe a months worth of high school American history courses. If your interested in Indian studies i would recommend starting with Vine Deloria Jr, but if you want a human story and honest read, Winnemucca's book will be very satisfying.

[Coralie]

This was an interesting although very sad book. Sarah Winnemucca was a Piute woman. Her tribe first made contact with the English when Sarah was a small child. When she was a younger teenager, her father sent her to a boarding school where she learned to read, write and speak English. This stood her in good stead as an adult, when she became an interpreter for her people. Sarah tried to advocate for decent treatment for her people, but for the most part, her people were treated miserably by the US government. Sarah always felt that the US army treated her people much more fairly than the government. Later in her life, Sarah Winnemucca lectured in New York, Washington DC and Boston to try to educate people in the east about the plight of the Indians in the west.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew going into this book that it was going to be hard. I am so tender hearted and can't stand when people mistreat each other. Also, I have a fascination for Native American history. So I had to read it.

I knew going in I was going to cry. I did. I cried a lot. How can people be so cruel. I'll never understand how one human can treat another human so terribly.

There is no excuse for how some of the white people behaved. Thankfully there were some that treated them well, but far more that were greedy and cruel.

Sarah was so brave and so smart. I so admire her spunk even when she was in her most desperate moments.

[Kurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auto-biography on the life of a Paiute Tribe in northern Nevada during the late 1800s. Recounts interactions with white settlers/army and associated impacts on the tribe.

Pros: Represents one of few books written by a Native American that discusses Native American attitude towards white settlers and army.

Cons: Opinions by Winnemucca may not be representative of most Native Americans during her time, as she appeared to be of a privileged class. Not enough insight on how other Native Americans may have felt differently than her.

[Elizabeth Huff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really gives you an idea of the complicated relationship between white and native people in the late 1800s. There is questioning and acceptance, truth and lies. The author, learns English and is able to communicate for her people as well as navigate some aspects of the white world. She becomes a voice for her people and spends a lot of her time trying to advocate for them, unfortunately to no avail.

[C Legend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was twenty-one and a short resident of Reno, Nevada. What a life this woman had, in a time when a woman's role was hardly one of excitement and travel! The heart break of the treatment of her people is real and cannot be ignored. However, I come away with the idea: A life well lived is never forgotten, it is cherished in the human experience. I purchased and re-read this again with the idea that it should be adapted into a screenplay.

[Michelle Slobodzian]

This is a wonderful true story about the life of a Piute Indian. The story was told so clearly that you could picture yourself there. I had a lot of strong emotions while reading the first part of this book. I wasn't able to finish it completely because of problems with my Amazin account. I originally bought this for my Kindle to read to my students in my Multicultural Literature class. I now want to go buy it again and finish the story.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable and fairly interesting autobiographical story about a woman growing up and living among the Piutes, a Native American tribe indigenous to Utah.

The book provides very interesting first hand account of Native Americans life and how they interacted with whites as they moved into their area.

I had to read this book for school, but I liked it.

[Dagny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part of this book is great -- her accounts of life as a Piute (before disrupted by white settlers). just amazing to read what that life was like first hand. Her voice is great. Important read for anyone who lives in Northern Nevada. I'm to where she recounts a lot of sad situations that happened to her tribe -- not inspiring but also important tho the writing is kind of monotonous.

[emily]

Awesome that this 19th century autobiography exists. The first part relates details of daily life and ceremonies of the northern Paiute. The flower ceremony! Interesting! The account largely focuses on her adult life as a translator between the Natives and the government, in battle and on the reservations.

[Teshamae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book that all citizens of the United States should read lest we gloss over this terrible part of our history. Sarah Winnemucca replicates her oral history in this book that is not an autobiography, but rather a history of what happened to her people when the white man came to Nevada.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a decent read, kinda hard to follow because at times the English is shaky which is understandable not being her first language. Also she doesn't follow a set timeline, however it is pretty powerful story telling. I now feel even more like I am such a guilty american. Sarah Winnemucca I apologize for my great great great grandparents and their peoples' treatment of your people.