Spirit Moves: The Story of Six Generations of Native Women

by Loree Boyd

The author recounts the struggles and spirituality of the women of her Native American family from the late nineteenth century until the present.

Genres: Native American, Nonfiction, Indigenous

436 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1995

Reviews

[Bec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spirit Moves is the compelling, heart-wrenching memoir of six native women, six generations, all survivors of genocide and brutal abuse. Set in Alberta, Canada and the Pacific Northwest, the stories of these six Cree/Blackfoot Metis Native American women unwind from the heart. The reader sees how the abuses the women suffered shaped their lives and the lives of their daughters. No one woman should suffer anything that these six suffered. No family should have to carry the burden of suffering Bird Song, Margaret, Anne, Silversong, Loree, and now Danaelle and Layla carry.

There are those who would say that this family's suffering diminished over time, that each mother survived to give her daughters a better life, even when those daughters were not of their bodies. Does believing that really honor their hearts, their suffering, their journeys, or does it simply sweep all that rich story under a rug of comfortable tidiness? They were the lucky ones, the ones who didn't die from the beatings, who didn't starve to death while governments created restrictions after restriction in order to control the 'wild Indian'. They were the lucky ones who had to watch their family members die, pick up the pieces of shattered and flooded homes, shut the door, and start over again. They survived disease and poisonings to emerge as artists, thinkers, and activists.

Boyd has written a human memoir, one where the characters are neither perfectly good nor perfectly evil although the circumstances of each event could easily direct the narrative into those binaries. Spirit Moves is as much a love story as it is a memoir of witness, a story of hope as much as a chronicle of one family's history in times of great upheaval.

[Allicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

the generation story of this book is amazing. there are many events and obstacles that are very real and true to what indigenous women have gone through. Eventhough I read this book quite awhile ago there are parts of the book that I remember vividly and often reflect on in my own experiences as a young Indigenous woman.

[Terrence]

'Just started

[Liz Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really shows what it was and still is like to be an Indian. Enjoyed it very much!

[Pam Villegas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very powerful, generational stories of survival within the family and society...

[Dena Beck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish this one. Couldn't get into it at all.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good. loved it!

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very moving, outstanding book documenting the history of the women in the author’s family. Painful but at the same time uplifting.

[Jacque Dewey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite books, I have bought multiple copies and ensured my mom, daughter, and grandmother read it as well!

[Stephanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a contemporary view of the Native American social struggles and realities of life Native Americans face now and have faced in the past in North America. Having previously been married into a PNW tribe (Quinault) I could, sadly, relate to much of what is written in this book.

[Laneene Rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful intergenerational story of amzing courage and love.