Buffalo Woman

Buffalo Woman #1

by Dorothy M. Johnson

A fictionalized account, as seen through the eyes of a woman known as Whirlwind, of life with the Oglala Sioux from 1820 through the aftermath of the victory at the Little Bighorn in 1877.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Westerns

247 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1977

About the author

Dorothy Marie Johnson (December 19, 1905–November 11, 1984) was an American author best known for her Western fiction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy...

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorothy's storytelling brings a Lakota family to life as they navigated the decades before and after their lives intersected with Wasichus moving into their territory. She shares well-researched sociological, anthropological, historical, and ecological details in a fascinating read. Her facts match up with those in scholarly work, only they're more engaging because she's added the human factor by telling this achingly sad story through the eyes of a Lakota woman from her childhood to her old age. I can see why she won a Golden Spur award for this book.

[Pam Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the 19th century, this novel of American Indian History seemed well researched with much attention to social detail. The main character was Whirlwind who was an Oglala Lakota Sioux. The book follows her from her birth in 1820 through her "walking on" shortly after the events at "Wounded Knee" (1877).

For persons interested in American Indian History this is a good place to start. Each chapter progresses 10 or 15 years and begins with a summary of the current residents of the Lodge which included extended families and often orphaned nieces and nephews or other adopted youths. There are great descriptions of vision quests, sundance cerenmonies, sweat lodges and contraries which I have read of in many other books. I have always found it fascinating that American Indians did not punish their children as far as striking them or scolding them. Youthful misdemeanors were dealt with in other ways.



Although this is fiction it could very easily have been true history. The social mores, marriage, birth, death and burial rites are very accurate. Hooray for San Francisco who just proclaimed Christopher Columbus Day to henceforth be Indigenous American Day.

[Joaquin del Villar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novela de la colección Frontera, estupenda como todas las que forman parte de esta colección. Cuenta la historia de un mujer india desde su infancia hasta el final, el periodo que abarca mas o menos la edad de oro de los indios de las praderas, con sobre todo el dominio de los caballos, la llegada del hombre blanco, las penosidades de las reservas, la batalla de Little Big Horn y el ocaso de las tribus indias. Cuenta sobre los principales líderes de sus tribus: Nube Roja, Toro Sentado, Caballo Loco. Esta muy bien

[Gordie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una voce femminile nel panorama letterario western è cosa rara.
In questo romanzo, a tratti documentaristico, viene raccontata la storia dei nativi americani Sioux Lakota Oglala attraverso gli occhi e la voce di Turbine che gira, dalla nascita, per quasi sessant'anni tra il 1820 e il 1876, sino alla battaglia sul Little Bighorn e poi l'anno successivo durante l'ultimo viaggio verso nord, verso il Canada, in fuga dalle Giubbe blu americane alla ricerca di nuova pace e stabilità.
Una lettura faticosa per il gran numero di nomi e le molte (peraltro utili) note a piè di pagina, ma estremamente ricca e, infine, appagante, un punto di vista necessario per apprendere lo spirito di un popolo tutt'altro che selvaggio come raccontato spesso in passato, specie dalla cinematografia hollywoodiana, un popolo in piena armonia con la natura, coraggioso e capace di rispetto incondizionato per gli altri, protettore dei più deboli.
La Johnson ci conduce attraverso i luoghi, le usanze, il rapporto trascendente con l'aldilà, con la morte, con l'incontaminato spirito di uomini e donne alle prese con la vita quotidiana, in continuo movimento nelle grandi pianure nordamericane, iniziando questo cammino dalla nascita di Turbine che gira, figlia di Aquila che Cammina e Donna Molte Ossa.
Una vita prospera, semplice, dove ognuno ha il suo ruolo, di generazione in generazione, con la tenda a sancire il fulcro famigliare all'interno della tribù, famiglie spesso allargate, dove le donne hanno un ruolo fondamentale.
Seppur ai nostri occhi sembri una società patriarcale, l'armonia che traspare dal racconto di Dorothy Johnson ci scalda il cuore: si respira rispetto, amore, devozione, coraggio, amicizia, tutti sentimenti puri, incontaminati come la natura che circonda il popolo Lakota.
Ci sono certamente scontri con tribù e popoli vicini, ma sono quasi sempre battaglie e scaramucce per la sopravvivenza della propria gente, non sono mai questioni di potere o sopraffazione gratuite.
Fino all'arrivo dei wasichu, gli uomini bianchi, i coloni a caccia di nuove terre, della corsa all'oro con la protezione delle giubbe blu, le false promesse del Grande Padre (il presidente degli Stati Uniti) e le malattie.
Da qui il declino del popolo nativo, una parte sottomesso e in miseria nelle riserve indiane, un'altra, più combattiva, ma soggetta a una carestia stremante, costretta alla fuga.
Tra personaggi reali e storici (Custer, Toro Seduto, Cavallo Pazzo, ecc.) e quelli romanzati della tribù di Turbine che gira, Donna Bisonte rappresenta un affresco significativo di un'epoca in cui la colonizzazione sfrenata ha prodotto un genocidio di proporzioni catastrofiche che, purtroppo vediamo perpetrare ancora oggi con la sopraffazione di interi popoli anziché la ricerca lungimirante della pacifica convivenza.
Come sempre tradotto magistralmente dal Nicola Manuppelli.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an older book telling the story of a Sioux woman and her family. the story starts in 1820 and ends just after the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It is well written with an eye for the detail of every day living. Not surprisingly it is sad as the downward arc of Buffalo Woman's life parallels that of her people. Also not surprisingly, the policies of the US toward indigenous people are shown to be as harsh and cruel as they were.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

One might classify this as an "anthropological narrative". The culture and customs of the Lakota Sioux are illustrated and explained via tales of living in the last decades of the free Indian tribes. It culminates with the Battle of Little Big Horn and the migration into Canada. As such a perspective, it tells one side, only, but one that has not been told as often or well as that of the Americans.

[Javier García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buenísima novela sobre una mujer Lakota (siux). Escrita de modo ágil y ligero al dividir la historia en capítulos cortos según los integrantes de la familia que viva en la misma tienda. Se hace muy ameno mientras que ves pasar las décadas y las generaciones familiares. Como toda historia de los indigenes norte americanos es triste y con un halo melancólico, sus tradiciones y modo de vida se van poco a poco reduciendo con los años.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever wondered what the women were doing while the men were off hunting or fighting then this book is for you. I found this to be enthralling and a rarity because of the viewpoint. I am looking forward to the second book All the Buffalo Returning.

[Apryl McLean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. Written by a white woman who clearly studied Native history and used a lot of names of the big Chiefs and battles of the day. I read it right after Waterlily and it was not as good because it was not as authentic. I love authenticity.

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stories based on true accounts.

[Miguel Ayuso Rejas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otro gran libro de Johnson. No tan bueno como sus relatos, pero muy recomendable.

[Yolanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Sé trabajadora como la araña, sabia como la tortuga, alegre cómo la alondra." p.110

[Mike Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm only three chapters in but I'm giving this 5 stars already. If you want a genuine story about American Indians, cowboys, lawmen, badmen etc. you need to read Dorothy M. Johnson. You also need to read Shane by Jack Schaefer, The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout and Hombre by Elmore Leonard. Yet out of all these Dorothy M. Johnson is where you'll find the truest account of how real life was in those days: at least I think you will - I was born in the northern UK, what do I know?

This is a really good read if you like the kind of westerns which don't just paint the indians as the default bad guys. So ... in a nutshell ... if you enjoyed "Dances with Wolves" (book or movie) you'll probably like this.

The Blackfoot Tribe didn't make her an honourary member for nothing!

[Alana Cash · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of, Whirlwind, a Lakota girl born in 1820 before the gold rush brought the tidal of wave of immigrants and ultimately the US military into the region that these people had roamed and hunted for 1000s of years. I do not know if the author, Doris Johnson, is descended from Lakota or straight European, but she has written 3 other books about the West and Lakota that were turned into movies [The Hanging Tree, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and "The A Man Called Horse]. The author grew up in Montana, where most of the story takes place.

This is a quiet book without melodrama - altho plenty of drama with fights, child mortality, disease brought by the wagon trains and soliders, etc.. It is told through external dialogue and action, not through internal dialogue and thoughts. And it is very well written. I enjoyed it immensely.

The book captures, not only of the culture and values of the Lakotas, but it captures the time period in Wyoming/Montana corner when there were plenty of trees and animals. There is a strong sense of family with the people, and riches were counted by bravery, the ability to live by internal values, self-sustaining skills, and horses. While there was trade, there was no concept of money or hoarding or investing [except time invested in developing skills - hunting, making weapons and clothing and lodges]. There's plenty to learn here.

There is a different viewpoint on the conflicts between the Lakota and the wagon trains and soldiers than has been depicted in history books, movies, etc. Solely from their viewpoint, I felt an immense sadness at what they lost. No one took their land, they didn't own it. But fences and farming, they did not understand nor need.

The book ends as the US Army hunts down the Lakotas [Cheyenne and Arapaho] after the battle of Little Big Horn [1876]. The Lakota lodges were set afire by arrows shot by their enemies the Crow, and then there was a blizzard which decimated the people. Whirlwind, a grandmother at tje emd pf tje bppl, dies of starvation.

I highly recommend this book.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another author mentioned in that same article--"anything by Dorothy Johnson". This book is written using a Lakota Indian woman in the 1800's as the main character to describe their way of life and customs as well as the terrible changes made by the white settlers. Very interesting.

[Partridge Public]

Johnson, Dorothy

[Stephanie A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best Native American story I've ever read, for the sheer level of detail as it wraps you up entirely within the Sioux world - and the way the 19th century steadily encroaches upon it.

[Paula Hess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read about the Oglala Sioux, the people of Crazy Horse. Takes place from 1820-1877.

[Yvette · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5