Completing the Circle

by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve tells her own story and the story of her family. An expert quilter, she recalls her grandmother, Flora Driving Hawk, teaching her how storytelling enthralls and how a quilt can represent all that holds a family together. "I think of how she and her woman friends sat around the quilt frame, gossiping, laughing, sighing as they stitched the joys and sorrows of their lives into the quilt."

Genres: Nonfiction, History

121 pages, Hardcover

First published April 28, 1995

About the author

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve was born and raised on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. She was the daughter of an Episcopal priest and a Lakota Sioux mother. Sneve received her B.S. and M.Ed. in 1954 and 1969, respectively, from South Dakota State University. She has taught English in public school of South Dakota, and at the Flandreau Indian School in Flandreau. Her career also includes editor at the Brevet Press in Sioux Fall, S.D. Sneve is a member of the board of directors, Native American consortium, Corporation for Public Broadcasting ; member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe; member of board of directors of United Sioux Tribes Cultural Arts; and Historiographer of the Episcopal Church of South Dakota.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sneve used her grandmother's stories, legends, history books, and records to "fill in the gaps" in her family history. She saw that women are generally absent from American Indian history, and she gives an idea about day to day life and coping strategies through changes. I read it for a cass, but it's good for any time too.