Warrior Princesses Strike Back: How Lakota Twins Fight Oppression and Heal through Connectedness

by Sarah Eagle Heart, Emma Eagle Heart-White

Interspersing personal memoir with radical notions of self-help and collective recovery, Warrior Princesses Strike Back focuses how Indigenous activist strategies can be a crucial roadmap for contemporary truth and healing.

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is home to the original people of this land, yet it is also one of the poorest communities in America. Through intimate and vulnerable memoir, Lakota twin sisters Sarah Eagle Heart and Emma Eagle Heart-White recount growing up on the reservation and overcoming enormous odds, first as teenaged girls in a majority-white high school, and then battling bias in their professional careers. Woven throughout are self-help strategies centering women of color, that combine marginalized histories, psychological research on trauma, and perspectives on “decolonial therapy.” Through the lens of Indigenous activism, the Eagle Hearts explore the possibility of healing intergenerational and personal trauma by focusing traditional strategies of reciprocity, acknowledgement, and collectivism.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Indigenous

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 17, 2023

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content : great - life stories the best
Self help - fine, felt like filler, repetitive, not the important parts of the story for me

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the messages in this book and would certainly encourage others to read it, but I really struggled with the writing style. Both authors had a tendency to write in very short, declarative sentences and the essays would often be very repetitive. I thought the first essay, the joint one about their protest in high school was the strongest. I did like that they interspersed and explained Lakota words and concepts throughout, as well as spiritual practices. Overall, it’s definitely a worthwhile read, but it was slow going for me because I didn’t care for the writing style.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and learned so much. Twin sister authors, Sarah Eagle Heart and Emma Eagle Heart-White, share their memories of growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation where their large extended family -- everyone is a cousin or uncle or aunt -- shares their rich Lakotah heritage and looks after them when their mother is severely injured in a car accident. They intertwine their beautifully written personal stories with Lakotah beliefs, ethics, language, and ceremony. They boldly confront the racism and erasure they experienced as they found their way through an often-hostile and marginalizing white society and work world -- and frankly face divisions in their own community and progressive movements. They look to their Lakotah community, knowledge and legacy to deal with their own personal and professional challenges, and provide thoughts that others may follow. Their book reminds me of Gloria Anzaldua's breakthrough "Borderlands," with its deft weaving together of intimate stories with history, social science, and belief systems. I highly recommend!

[Kathy Dyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Warrior Princess Strike Back, Emma Eagle Heart-White and Sarah Eagle Heart have written an autobiographical, educational and thought-provoking book with historical and contemporary insights into Indian reservation life and Indigenous challenges. Filled with personal stories, Lakota laws and culture, self-help strategies focused for women, and insights into Indigenous cultures, a wide audience should read this book.

Each chapter ends with potential actions for individuals related to Lakota laws along with prompts for personal reflection. The Eagle Heart twins are courageous Indigenous women leading others to heal and act. I appreciate being exposed to new and innovative ideas (i.e., climate risk, brainspotting therapy) and learning of the lived experiences of these two courageous women.

[Vanessa Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is important for a variety of audiences. For the young indigenous women they address directly, they provide models of women who may have had to overcome similar experiences and offer guiding actions and journal prompts to work towards healing. The healing practices and journal prompts are not exclusive to the native community, however. For those outside their community, we gain insight into their cultural worldview and the impact that racism and colonialism have had on native communities over generations as well as methods of allyship and self- reflection.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intense memoir and I'm glad the voices of these authors are heard. The audio boom might have been better...to actually hear them each speak instead of switching between writing styles each chapter. Made it hard to follow.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stories from these Lakota twins about fighting racism and injustice. It has some good moments, but also some less interesting things that felt more like airing grievances.