Customer Reviews

Delfina Cuero: Her Autobiography - An Account of Her Last Years and Her Ethnobotanic Contributions (Ballena Press Anthropological Papers, No. 38)

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I am currently learning about California Native American History, but there are so few books out there. The ones that do exist such as Indians of CA: The Changing Image by James Rawls & Strangers In A Stolen Land by Richard Carrico are informative, but rely on newspapers and Euro-American opinion as a primary source. Albeit important, these books do not reflect Native American perspectives at all. This biography is the only text I know of that attempts to fill this gap. I especially like this book because I grew up in San Diego and to learn about what this county looked like 100 years ago moves me. Knowing the places that Delfina Cuero mentions sometimes brings me to tears. It is an invaluable piece of history, and it is an inspirational account of human resilience.

This book really opens your eyes to all of the struggles of the native people of southern California. It also shows how much knowledge they possessed. The westerners may not have thought they were a civilized culture because of the cultural differences, but this book proves them wrong.