Customer Reviews

Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs And Claims

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Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins was the daughter of Northern Paiute Chief Winnemucca. Edited by Mrs. Horace Mann,Sarah Winnemucca provides more than a brief glance into the lives of the Northern Paiutes living on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation during the late 1800s. Winnemucca gives her voice to the plight of her people as they struggle to survive the effects of government Indian policy in the Western United States.

Sarah Winnemucca's autobiography enables the reader to examine how the US reservation system, assimilation policy and the BIA failed to provide adequately for the Paiute people. The author provides the reader with an opportunity to experience the feelings of hope and despair of the Paiute people during the late 1870s and 1880s. Her examples of the corruption by white settlers and Indian agents provides reasonable and believable evidence of what life was like for Sarah Winnemucca and her Paiute family.

Sarah Winnemucca's memories are bitter-sweet. She relates her actions to help not only her own people but the US army during the Indian wars of that era, including the Bannock War. Marrying US Army soldier Lewis Hopkins in the early 1880s, her story also includes events during their marriage. An advocat for her people, Sarah traveled to Washington, D. C. to speak with the President, and she traveled coast-to-coast publicly speaking about the plight of her people as well as her life as a young Paiute woman. Her daring escapades as an Army scout and participant in several Indian wars further illustrate her strength as a Native woman.

This book, written in Sarah Winnemucca's voice, is both a powerful and moving example of the active role some women played in the history of the west. I found her memories to reflect a side of history often overlooked by other authors, and I highly recommend her work.

This book is a little difficult to read and understand at times due to the archaic language, but is definitely a worthy read. It tells the story you never learned in your history class in school. From the beginning legend of how the Native Americans became estranged from their White Brothers who were banished across the seas to the Paiute Elder telling everyone to rejoice in the return of the White Brothers is fascinating yet heartbreaking. We all know it didn't turn out so well for the Native Americans. In reading Sarah's story, which is written from the heart, it is easy to see how the Native Americans were exploited, treated as less than human and moved around like pawns to suit the white man's interest. I have the utmost respect for Sarah and her courage to speak up for her people. I also have the greatest respect for those who have followed, speaking her truths. Wake up people, we are on the wrong track. Bless you Sarah Winnemucca for your wonderful book and your attempts to make things right!

I read Winnemucca's autobiography for a Native American History class at University and found it to be excellently written! She was such a powerful role model for Indian women during the time and was greatly respected for her role in the Indian community! Although some feminists may critique her for not standing up for her people at some points in her life, her contributions to the Paiutes have made her one of their most revered members over history. As I read this book I was in awe of how great of a woman Sarah must have been considering the time she lived and how priceless her stories are!

Sarah Winnemucca's story is told with a dry edge. The sufferings she and the Paiutes endure draw the reader in, but at the same time, the author creates a distance between her identity and the rest of the worlds'. Many details of her life are left out, primarily focusing on tribal activity, government oppression, and her own diverse involvements between the two. The book leaves one feeling depressed, yet intrigued by a flourishing curiosity. One can only read about death, rape, disease, and war so often in one text before the "guilt" sets in.
Life among the Piutes is exactly what anyone would expect given the history and culture. Part of what makes it such a good read is the initial expectation of readers from non-native or non-natively educated backgrounds. It provides a comfortable transition from stereotypical expectations to the deep truths, injustices, and cultures of American Indians. It's an easy read that tells the dark tale of one of many oppressed Native tribes and provokes a quest for knowledge thereafter; a vital tool for any person dealing with preconceived notions concerning an entire race of people with a thirst for truth.

This is a great book if your looking for the Indigenous perspective of the settlement era in Oregon. It is very genuine in words and Sara Winnemucca's reputation is validated many times and her credibility is proven by upholding her grandfather's traditional thoughts on the white children who have come home.

Many parts of this book are very compelling. They're also painful -- while she doesn't focus too much on specific instances of starving children or young men wrongfully executed for crimes they didn't commit, there was quite a bit of suffering in her life and the lives of her people and that really carries through in the the text. I think perhaps some things she glossed over because they were too painful. When you read a book about the oppression of any group of people, you don't expect bunnies and rainbows, so that alone wouldn't make me mark it down, but I'm not entirely certain she's a reliable narrator about some things. She's considered a very controversial person today, with people questioning her true motives and whether the things she did were really best for her people. Her style also sort of wanders around, jumping about chronologically, referring to people once and then returning to them fifty pages later and expecting you to remember, etc. I didn't really enjoy reading it, but it was a very important book (she was the first Native American woman to secure a copyright and publish anything in English), so if you're interested in American Indian history and/or writers, it's probably worth a read through.

The amazing story by an amazing woman. I hate to read but could hardly put it down. I wont read a "novel" there are books like this that have more adventure and they are true. The "errors" are totally forgivable, especially when you get to be my age, working on my eighth decade. You will understand that statement after you read the two books about this book. Read them last.

Read about their survival customs first to really appreciate this book.

The book was all there needed it for a class. It was readable and perfectly okay to read once.