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Wynema: A Child of the Forest
Originally published in 1891, Wynema is the first novel known to have been written by a woman of American Indian descent. Set against the sweeping and often tragic cultural changes that affected southeastern native peoples during the late nineteenth century, it tells the story of a lifelong friendship between two women from vastly different backgrounds—Wynema Harjo, a Muscogee Indian, and Genevieve Weir, a Methodist teacher from a genteel Southern family. Both are firm believers in women’s rights and Indian reform; both struggle to overcome prejudice and correct injustices between sexes and races. Callahan uses the conventional traditions of a sentimental domestic romance to deliver an elegant plea for tolerance, equality, and reform.
88 pages, Paperback
First published April 28, 1997
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About the author
Sophia Alice Callahan
2 booksSophia Alice Callahan (1 January 1868 – 7 January 1894) was a novelist and teacher of Muscogee heritage. Her novel, Wynema, a Child of the Forest (1891) is thought "to be the first novel written by a Native American woman."
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia
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April 14, 2016This book went quick. It's largely sentimental fiction, which I can't say I enjoy, and most of it feels like it's *really* pandering to white people of the time. The superlative little "Indian" girl wants to be taught, they're all self-admitted "savages" but they can be given a good Christian chance and "Education" ... assimilationist to an extreme that not even Eastman reaches, for all he's accused of. *HOWEVER*, there's a marked shift in the later half of the book, and especially with the Wounded Knee scene, that is strong and compelling and makes you think. More than anything else in this novel, I think this phenomenon is important and demonstrates just how nothing is the same after Wounded Knee. It's a capital-E Event that interrupts and blasts through this fiction, potentially changing how we look at that saccharine, pandering beginning.... Not sure about that. Have to read it again/discuss with others.
February 7, 2021
Like most other reviewers have mentioned, this book is interesting mostly because it was the first published novel by a woman of Native American descent. It could be considered to be in the genre of Historical Fiction since it covers actual events and experiences but from the perspectives of fictional characters.
I was not fully engaged in the novel for the first three quarters of it because the style of writing is overly sentimental and a bit preachy [even when I agreed with the message]. The last quarter is when the story got very serious and became powerful and heartbreaking.
Though I was on the fence about this book through most of it, I am glad I read it, especially the ending which I will never forget.
I was not fully engaged in the novel for the first three quarters of it because the style of writing is overly sentimental and a bit preachy [even when I agreed with the message]. The last quarter is when the story got very serious and became powerful and heartbreaking.
Though I was on the fence about this book through most of it, I am glad I read it, especially the ending which I will never forget.
September 18, 2018
I read this book for a Native American Literature class I am taking this fall. I thought this managed to hold an interesting, important plot while also weaving in large chunks of history that not many people may know about.
April 12, 2022
This was an interesting book. It has a fun history about the friendship between a young Muscogee Creek girl and her white teacher, both of who find fulfilling marriages. That part is interesting, but I wish offered more detail on the title character's perspective. She seems so cool and yet we do not learn her thoughts as much as we could. But toward the end of the book, we have a time jump and a completely new plot about the Ghost Dance and the Wounded Knee Massacre. This plot was also interesting, but since it showed up so late in a pretty short book, it did not have as much detail as I had hoped. In the end, it feels like 2-3 books smashed together. All of them are interesting, but none of them are as long as I was hoping they would be.
March 11, 2023
I read this while waiting to board my train! It is the first ever book to be published by a woman of Native American descent, and it spoke so smartly about whitewashed perspectives of native traditions. It was fast-paced, detailed account of the Wounded Knee massacre from a heart-wrenching perspective. This book, although not deeply complex in its writing, paints a clear image of the pressure upon natives to assimilate into white culture. Wynema was a truly special girl who grew into an extraordinary woman.
November 29, 2021
This book was so good. Covers Native American rights, women's rights, balancing two cultures, romance.
June 25, 2020
S. Alice Callahan is regarded as the first novelist of American Indian descent with her book, Wynema: A Child of the Forest. The book was published in 1891 when Callahan was 23; sadly, she died just three years later.
Her only foreword reads as follows:
The story begins with Wynema as a child amidst the peaceful habitations of her tribe. A Methodist missionary opened a school, but most of the Indians did not see the point of it. Wynema, however, was enraptured by the idea of learning. “His was the touch that brought into life the slumbering ambition for knowledge and for a higher life, in the breast of the little Indian girl.” She begged her father for a school in their own village, and he agreed. So the missionary, Gerald Keithly, sent for a woman to come and teach. The call was answered by Genevieve Weir, who believed, “God made the Indians as he made the Caucasian—from the same mold. He loves the work of His hands.”
As Genevieve tries to teach the Native children reading, English, and Christianity, she also learns their ways. When she laments some of the “barbaric” customs, Gerald wisely counsels her that white customs would seem just as barbaric to the Indians if they observed a white doctor or ballroom dance, etc., and that in many ways, they were more civilized than their white compatriots. Wynema and Genevieve become close friends.
But behind these peaceful and informative interactions, the Indians were being cheated out of money and land by the white government. Callahan shares the escalation of events leading up to the battle of Wounded Knee as well as the aftermath.
She has her main characters recognize the distinction between the kind white people who wanted to help and the others who wanted to oppress rather than lumping them all into on category.
I perused a few articles on Callahan and this book. Responses are mixed. Some felt that making Genevieve the main character, or at least equal in importance to Wynema, diminished the Native American influence. But since it was written partly to white people to show that the Native Americans weren’t “savages” and to chronicle the wrongs done to them, it seems natural to show this through a white woman’s eyes being opened as she comes to know and love them.
Another article said that the book rejects the Christianization of the Native American as well as the colonization. But it seemed to me that Callahan presented both. Callahan includes a letter by Hadjo saying that “The Indians have never taken kindly to the Christian religion as preached and practiced by the whites. Do you know why this is the case? Because the Good Father of all has given us a better religion—a religion that is all good and no bad—a religion that is adapted to our wants” and that they have their own Messiah. But Wynema and others accepted the Christian message, and the general tone of the work is Christian.
Perhaps because Callahan had a Native American father and a white mother, her desire seemed to be to bring about reconciliation and understanding rather than further animosity. Part of reconciliation is acknowledging the wrongs done to another.
Her only foreword reads as follows:
TO THE INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA
Who have felt the wrongs and oppression of their pale-faced brothers, I lovingly dedicate this work, praying that it may serve to open the eyes and heart of the world to our afflictions, and thus speedily issue into existence an era of good feeling and just dealing toward us and our more oppressed brothers.
THE AUTHOR.
The story begins with Wynema as a child amidst the peaceful habitations of her tribe. A Methodist missionary opened a school, but most of the Indians did not see the point of it. Wynema, however, was enraptured by the idea of learning. “His was the touch that brought into life the slumbering ambition for knowledge and for a higher life, in the breast of the little Indian girl.” She begged her father for a school in their own village, and he agreed. So the missionary, Gerald Keithly, sent for a woman to come and teach. The call was answered by Genevieve Weir, who believed, “God made the Indians as he made the Caucasian—from the same mold. He loves the work of His hands.”
As Genevieve tries to teach the Native children reading, English, and Christianity, she also learns their ways. When she laments some of the “barbaric” customs, Gerald wisely counsels her that white customs would seem just as barbaric to the Indians if they observed a white doctor or ballroom dance, etc., and that in many ways, they were more civilized than their white compatriots. Wynema and Genevieve become close friends.
But behind these peaceful and informative interactions, the Indians were being cheated out of money and land by the white government. Callahan shares the escalation of events leading up to the battle of Wounded Knee as well as the aftermath.
She has her main characters recognize the distinction between the kind white people who wanted to help and the others who wanted to oppress rather than lumping them all into on category.
I perused a few articles on Callahan and this book. Responses are mixed. Some felt that making Genevieve the main character, or at least equal in importance to Wynema, diminished the Native American influence. But since it was written partly to white people to show that the Native Americans weren’t “savages” and to chronicle the wrongs done to them, it seems natural to show this through a white woman’s eyes being opened as she comes to know and love them.
Another article said that the book rejects the Christianization of the Native American as well as the colonization. But it seemed to me that Callahan presented both. Callahan includes a letter by Hadjo saying that “The Indians have never taken kindly to the Christian religion as preached and practiced by the whites. Do you know why this is the case? Because the Good Father of all has given us a better religion—a religion that is all good and no bad—a religion that is adapted to our wants” and that they have their own Messiah. But Wynema and others accepted the Christian message, and the general tone of the work is Christian.
Perhaps because Callahan had a Native American father and a white mother, her desire seemed to be to bring about reconciliation and understanding rather than further animosity. Part of reconciliation is acknowledging the wrongs done to another.
September 6, 2018
Synopsis:
Wynema: A Child of the Forest was written by S. Alice Callahan and published in 1891. This was the first novel to have been written by a woman of Native American descent. The novel follows a Muscogee girl named Wynema living in IndianTerritory in Oklahoma and her lifelong friendship with a white woman named Genevieve Weir who is a teacher in that area. The novel touches on a bit of Muscogee culture, equal relationships between men and women, solutions for how white people and Native Americans could learn to live peaceably together and various injustices of the United States against the Native Americans.
Storyline:
To start off this isn’t the most well written book and it is rather unpolished. Yet, I feel the little bits and pieces we get are important. Historically speaking this book is important. I think it was directed more at white people and I think it was important for people to read it at the time it was published. Even now I think this book has value. I got to learn a bit about the Muscogee culture and at the same time some terrible events that happened to Native Americans. The Wounded Knee Massacre was an event that was touched on and the events leading up to it and that is a horrifying thing that our government did. I think it’s important to remember this history and the vast injustice that was done. Besides the big events this book mostly was a domestic romance. It was a mix of things and not perfect, but discussed many interesting issues. S. Alice Callahan had a tragically short life and wrote this when she was around 23 I believe. I’m glad we have something of hers even if it is a bit crude, she had some important thoughts.
Setting:
Wynema is set in Oklahoma in the Indian Territory there. I did wish more from the setting. There wasn’t a whole lot of description. I haven’t read much about Native Americans post Trail of Tears though, so the time and place interested me.
Characters:
Both Wynema and Genevieve Weir are good female characters. They are both very intelligent, independent, and compassionate characters. They want justice for the Native Americans and equality for women. There was a fair bit of romance in here and it was interesting because it advocated marriage with sensitive men who could be part of a marriage of equals. Genevieve in particular had to choose between two different men. One was kind and compassionate to the Native Americans. The other held some pretty terrible viewpoints to both the natives and women. Through their relationships that seemed to end in domestic bliss, I feel the author was trying to show the potential for peace between the Native Americans and the whites. Sadly, that inevitably means the natives had to give up their way of life though.
Did I Like It?:
Yes I did. This wasn’t the best written book I’ve ever read that’s for sure, yet it was still somewhat enjoyable and I felt it was interesting and historically important. I am interested in First Nations literature and so I’m glad to have found out about this work as it is pretty obscure.
Do I Recommend It?:
Yes I do. You have to keep in mind that it’s not very polished or well written though. If that bothers you then perhaps I wouldn’t bother picking this up. If you are looking for books though written by authors of Native American descent this is an interesting one and it has historical value.
June 29, 2023
Wynema: A Child of the Forest is a book that I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to read.
Wynema (which I believe is pronounced WIN-e-ma based on the nickname Winnie in the book) is said to be the first known work written by a Native woman.
In order to read this book, you must prepare yourself mentally for the blunt, internalized racism, which begins on the first page: the Native men are referred to as "bucks," as though they were wild animals. And Wynema herself (to whom Callahan obviously relates) is referred to as "the little savage" even by someone who loves her very much.
It wasn't clear to me until well into the story, almost the end, how aware the author was of this self-loathing. But she has excellent insight if you give her book a chance and follow through to the end. Callahan was married to a Confederate soldier. And while she was a Muscogee herself, she was connected to Pleasant Porter, whose grandfather was an associate of Andrew Jackson's. So her perspective is extremely conflicted.
Wynema: A Child of the Forest is a short read, really two books in one. It's partly a "novel of manners" about a young Methodist schoolteacher from Mobile, Alabama named Genevieve Weir who goes to live among the Muscogee. She has been invited by Choe Harjo, the father of Wynema, a young girl who is fascinated with Christianity and English literature.
This is to some extent propaganda, though, about Callahan's presumption that the Native kids are better off knowing the white ways, that this will be better for their survival. However multiple arguments are made throughout the book.
It's also about the changing lives and times for the Native people all around Genevieve, especially her primary charge, Wynema. This in particular is both fascinating and heartbreaking, as Wynema was born at an especially painful place and time, of harsh oppression by American forces. The more research I did about the nuances of the situation, the worse I felt for the author.
All of the white missionaries in this book are sincere Christians who are welcome among the Natives. Genevieve has been invited because Wynema needs a tutor, and they become lifelong friends. This was jarring to me, because I have known a lot of Native people. And not one of them had anything good to say about any Christian school. Quite the opposite. The Christian schools, taking them away from their teepee villages, was ethnic cleansing and child abuse, kidnapping, for most of them. But for this particular author this is accurate.
Genevieve starts out being sincere enough in her White Savior Complex, but having no genuine respect for the Indians at all. She truly believes everything about her culture and way of life is better. It's refreshing that she does have a character arc in the book. Genevieve eventually gets over herself and learns some respect. I don't think that's a real spoiler.
It's not discussed in the book, but the Muscogee were originally from Alabama until Andrew Jackson so brutally drove them to Oklahoma, where this book takes place, in "Indian Territory." So it's a little rich when Ms. Genevieve arrives from Mobile like she's doing them some big favor. https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/r...
It's interesting to me to note how few hard feelings there seem to be on the author's part, so close to the forced removal from their ancestral lands and during a time when there were boarding schools kidnapping Native children away and forcing them into assimilation. Because later in the book there are very clear, authentic Native voices of people who very much do get it, specifically the Ghost Dancers and the woman who survives Wounded Knee and rescues multiple infants.
The author truly had one foot in each camp:
"Sophia Alice Callahan (1868–1894) was born to parents of Muscogee and European ancestry in Sulphur Springs, Texas. At the Wesleyan Female Institute in Virginia, Callahan studied history, languages, the arts, science, geography, mathematics, and religion. She subsequently taught at Wealaka Mission School and Harrell Institute in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Callahan was also editor of the Methodist Native American journal Our Brother in Red and, in 1891, published her only novel, Wymena: A Child of the Forest."
It occurs to me that the intended audience for this book was her Confederate sorority sisters back in Alabama. Perhaps Callahan sought to shock their sense of Christianity with the reality of how Andrew Jackson's policies were playing out.
Later the novel discusses how exactly the land grabs were done, basically by paying off certain key people within the Native communities. A group of delegates would be sent to Washington to negotiate for everyone. And people would be ready to kill them when they got back. But a secret meeting would be called, and it was understood that the right people were paid off, and it was never spoken of again.
People were divided up, with those who were willing to play ball and be paid off by the whites, move onto the reservations and accept stipends, supposedly not being attacked. But the whites could never be trusted.
There is significant discussion of "allotment," the way the communities were divided and pitted against each other by taking communal properties and separating them into individual plots. All of this was designed to reward those who went along with the Americans and punish those who attempted to cling to the old ways even after having been displaced to Oklahoma.
Callahan has compelling descriptions of all of this -- though I encourage readers to do their own research prior to reading in order to better understand the discussions in the novel. But she amply displays how people are pitted against each other in what may seem to be unlikely ways. It's easy when you apply starvation and brute force. https://www.fivecivilizedtribes.org/M...
This is a well-written (if painful) book that will only take you an afternoon to read. Sophia Callahan obviously loved reading Tennyson, just like Wynema. She only lived to be 26 years old. And she found a way to bear witness to some of the most horrifying human rights abuses imaginable -- and also some very important cultural elements of her community.
Don't let me forget to mention that. Contained within Wynema are descriptions of the green corn ceremony and other important cultural understandings that are really valuable for anyone who is interested in getting to know the true story of America through the eyes of one young woman who found a way to make her voice known. I find something about that really magical, that she loved books as much as she did. She was in the middle of such an awful, compelling point in history. She found a way to put it out there with her few, short days. And her book is just siting there, available for me to read for free.
Sophia Callahan was born at a time when one part of her family was destroying the other part. And there was nothing she could do about it.
I promise that if you give her a chance, Sophia Alice Callahan will show you a robust understanding of what it felt like to be pitted against both sides of yourself, the part that wanted to live the way of the forest, and the part that wanted to have everything that books can give you. This is a truly humanizing novel and well worth your effort.
Wynema (which I believe is pronounced WIN-e-ma based on the nickname Winnie in the book) is said to be the first known work written by a Native woman.
In order to read this book, you must prepare yourself mentally for the blunt, internalized racism, which begins on the first page: the Native men are referred to as "bucks," as though they were wild animals. And Wynema herself (to whom Callahan obviously relates) is referred to as "the little savage" even by someone who loves her very much.
It wasn't clear to me until well into the story, almost the end, how aware the author was of this self-loathing. But she has excellent insight if you give her book a chance and follow through to the end. Callahan was married to a Confederate soldier. And while she was a Muscogee herself, she was connected to Pleasant Porter, whose grandfather was an associate of Andrew Jackson's. So her perspective is extremely conflicted.
Wynema: A Child of the Forest is a short read, really two books in one. It's partly a "novel of manners" about a young Methodist schoolteacher from Mobile, Alabama named Genevieve Weir who goes to live among the Muscogee. She has been invited by Choe Harjo, the father of Wynema, a young girl who is fascinated with Christianity and English literature.
This is to some extent propaganda, though, about Callahan's presumption that the Native kids are better off knowing the white ways, that this will be better for their survival. However multiple arguments are made throughout the book.
It's also about the changing lives and times for the Native people all around Genevieve, especially her primary charge, Wynema. This in particular is both fascinating and heartbreaking, as Wynema was born at an especially painful place and time, of harsh oppression by American forces. The more research I did about the nuances of the situation, the worse I felt for the author.
All of the white missionaries in this book are sincere Christians who are welcome among the Natives. Genevieve has been invited because Wynema needs a tutor, and they become lifelong friends. This was jarring to me, because I have known a lot of Native people. And not one of them had anything good to say about any Christian school. Quite the opposite. The Christian schools, taking them away from their teepee villages, was ethnic cleansing and child abuse, kidnapping, for most of them. But for this particular author this is accurate.
Genevieve starts out being sincere enough in her White Savior Complex, but having no genuine respect for the Indians at all. She truly believes everything about her culture and way of life is better. It's refreshing that she does have a character arc in the book. Genevieve eventually gets over herself and learns some respect. I don't think that's a real spoiler.
It's not discussed in the book, but the Muscogee were originally from Alabama until Andrew Jackson so brutally drove them to Oklahoma, where this book takes place, in "Indian Territory." So it's a little rich when Ms. Genevieve arrives from Mobile like she's doing them some big favor. https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/r...
It's interesting to me to note how few hard feelings there seem to be on the author's part, so close to the forced removal from their ancestral lands and during a time when there were boarding schools kidnapping Native children away and forcing them into assimilation. Because later in the book there are very clear, authentic Native voices of people who very much do get it, specifically the Ghost Dancers and the woman who survives Wounded Knee and rescues multiple infants.
The author truly had one foot in each camp:
"Sophia Alice Callahan (1868–1894) was born to parents of Muscogee and European ancestry in Sulphur Springs, Texas. At the Wesleyan Female Institute in Virginia, Callahan studied history, languages, the arts, science, geography, mathematics, and religion. She subsequently taught at Wealaka Mission School and Harrell Institute in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Callahan was also editor of the Methodist Native American journal Our Brother in Red and, in 1891, published her only novel, Wymena: A Child of the Forest."
It occurs to me that the intended audience for this book was her Confederate sorority sisters back in Alabama. Perhaps Callahan sought to shock their sense of Christianity with the reality of how Andrew Jackson's policies were playing out.
Later the novel discusses how exactly the land grabs were done, basically by paying off certain key people within the Native communities. A group of delegates would be sent to Washington to negotiate for everyone. And people would be ready to kill them when they got back. But a secret meeting would be called, and it was understood that the right people were paid off, and it was never spoken of again.
People were divided up, with those who were willing to play ball and be paid off by the whites, move onto the reservations and accept stipends, supposedly not being attacked. But the whites could never be trusted.
There is significant discussion of "allotment," the way the communities were divided and pitted against each other by taking communal properties and separating them into individual plots. All of this was designed to reward those who went along with the Americans and punish those who attempted to cling to the old ways even after having been displaced to Oklahoma.
Callahan has compelling descriptions of all of this -- though I encourage readers to do their own research prior to reading in order to better understand the discussions in the novel. But she amply displays how people are pitted against each other in what may seem to be unlikely ways. It's easy when you apply starvation and brute force. https://www.fivecivilizedtribes.org/M...
This is a well-written (if painful) book that will only take you an afternoon to read. Sophia Callahan obviously loved reading Tennyson, just like Wynema. She only lived to be 26 years old. And she found a way to bear witness to some of the most horrifying human rights abuses imaginable -- and also some very important cultural elements of her community.
Don't let me forget to mention that. Contained within Wynema are descriptions of the green corn ceremony and other important cultural understandings that are really valuable for anyone who is interested in getting to know the true story of America through the eyes of one young woman who found a way to make her voice known. I find something about that really magical, that she loved books as much as she did. She was in the middle of such an awful, compelling point in history. She found a way to put it out there with her few, short days. And her book is just siting there, available for me to read for free.
Sophia Callahan was born at a time when one part of her family was destroying the other part. And there was nothing she could do about it.
I promise that if you give her a chance, Sophia Alice Callahan will show you a robust understanding of what it felt like to be pitted against both sides of yourself, the part that wanted to live the way of the forest, and the part that wanted to have everything that books can give you. This is a truly humanizing novel and well worth your effort.
October 18, 2023
Required reading for my English class. This book moves quickly. The characters are pretty removed from the novel's main plot, which is odd. Definitely achieves the goal of getting the reader to sympathize with the Native Americans during the war, although I'd argue it does so in a white-savior-way that doesn't really kindle an appreciation for Native American culture, as the two main advocators for Native American rights are white missionaries, and Wynema herself is a perfectly malleable young Native American girl who easily learns English and American customs.
November 18, 2024
I respect this novel for being the first published by a Native American woman, and I think it is very important to read books like this. It contains many thought-provoking conversations that many people still need to have. However, I didn't like some of the characterizations of the people in the story, and I didn't know how to feel about the progressions of their individual stories. The tonal shifts were very abrupt. Overall, it was just a very interesting read.
November 7, 2021
An interesting read for curiosity's sake. I would judge the novel to be 90% servile dedication to immortalizing the supportive, albeit patronizing, white characters, and about 10% about the person and culture of the eponymous Wynema. Perhaps an indication of the realities of getting published, even in 1891?
January 19, 2024
This an important work of fiction in that it’s regarded as the first published by a Native American. It is heavily influenced by the battle at wounded knee and by the authors conversion to Christianity. I did not love the story but I did love the history of publication and leaning about the author.
April 2, 2023
I'd heard that this was a novel written by the first published Creek writer. It was an interesting read. A fictional group of people show how a missionary was with the Creek and talked about events happening in the Native community like Wounded Knee.
February 27, 2025
Read for my Indian Literature and the Law class. I was really interested in this story and how it represented an indigenous perspective while still appealing to a white audience. I also really enjoyed our class discussion.
September 15, 2018
Definitely not something I would have picked up if not required for class, but overall I can see why it was something we had to read.
September 7, 2023
read for american lit and honestly wasnt as bad as i thought
November 5, 2024
read for school, but was pretty good
March 3, 2024
I read the book because it was the first novel written by a Native American woman. For the most part, this novel was hopeful in a way that clung to a world that never was. Wynema learned English, marries, befriends a white woman who is her teacher.
And then the Massacre at Wounded Knee brings cold, hard, awful, distressing reality into the novel.
And then the Massacre at Wounded Knee brings cold, hard, awful, distressing reality into the novel.
March 6, 2013
interesting perspective. Really don't feel as strongly about this one as the others, there is clearly injustice here but the author doesn't put enough into depicting it. Will have a fun writing a paper on this one though there is a lot more information on it then I originally thought.
December 17, 2013
OK, this is not the most beautifully written book, but the ideas are important. I have a unit plan on it if you want to teach it. Good for 9th grade.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews