Sarah Winnemucca (American Indian Lives) [Paperback]

Sally Zanjani (Author)

Book Description

Series: American Indian Lives | Publication Date: September 1, 2004

This book is the triumphant and moving story of Sarah Winnemucca (1844–91), one of the most influential and charismatic Native women in American history. Born into a legendary family of Paiute leaders in western Nevada, Sarah dedicated much of her life to working for her people. She played an instrumental and controversial role as interpreter and messenger for the U.S. Army during the Bannock War of 1878 and traveled to Washington in 1880 to obtain the release of her people from confinement on the Yakama Reservation. She toured the East Coast in the 1880s, tirelessly giving speeches about the plight of her people and heavily criticizing the reservation system. In 1883 she produced her autobiography—the first written by a Native woman—and founded a Native school whose educational practices were far ahead of its time. Sally Zanjani also reveals Sarah’s notorious sharp tongue and wit, her love of performance, her string of failed relationships, and at the end, possible poisoning by a romantic rival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A tireless advocate for the Paiute Indians and the granddaughter of Truckee, who guided John Charles Fr‚mont across the Great Basin to California, Winnemucca (1844-1891) was the author of Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims (1883) the first book "by an Indian woman, the first by an Indian west of the Rockies, and one of the earliest by an Indian west of the Mississippi." Having grown up amid the wars, massacres, removals and betrayals that devastated the Paiute despite Fremont's assurances, Winnemucca struggled "to find a place for herself and her people in the world [white men] had snatched away." Founded on Zanjani's (A Mine of Her Own: Women Prospectors in the American West) painstaking examination of civil documents, private papers and newspapers, this meticulous account details such pivotal events as Winnemucca's interpreting services for the American army, her quarrels with usually corrupt Bureau of Indian Affairs agents, her impassioned lectures, her unsuccessful trip to Washington to plead that the Paiute be allowed to return to Oregon, and her journey to Boston, where under the auspices of Elizabeth Peabody and Mary Mann she wrote her book and met Boston's intellectual and social elite. Unfortunately, the prose is flat when it isn't Winnemucca's, and the story is hemmed in by nervous caveats "if," "maybe," "probably." Even new details lack vitality in this account, which will primarily interest scholars. Photographs not seen by PW.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Here, the prolific Zanjani (A Mine of Her Own) chronicles the life and times of one of the most significant Native American women of the 19th century. Sarah Winnemucca (1844-91) was the daughter and granddaughter, respectively, of Paiute chiefs Winnemucca and Truckee. Her course in life followed these two leaders closely in attempting to help the Paiute adapt to increasing influence and pressure from Anglo expansion. With authority, Zanjani details the progressive effects of the settlers on the Paiute through Sarah's eyes and life experiences. Sharing her father and grandfather's belief that to survive the Paiute must peacefully coexist with the white man, she became a Bureau of Indian Affairs interpreter at Camp McDermitt in Oregon. She also dedicated her life to pursuing fair and just treatment for the Paiute people by the U.S. government. To this end, Sarah journeyed to Washington, DC, and other major Eastern cities, speaking publicly of the injustices against the Paiute people, and wrote her autobiography, Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims (1883). Zanjani's excellent history of this remarkable woman is recommended for all public and academic libraries. John E. Dockall, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803299214
• ISBN-13: 978-0803299214
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tale of a Complex Life, September 23, 2004

By 

Holly Adiele (Sunnyside, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sarah Winnemucca (American Indian Lives) (Hardcover)

A simply told tale of the complex life of a complex woman -- I did not find it dry or academic at all. I cannot judge the quality of the research, as I am not familiar with Winnemucca's life, but the biography appears both frank and well-rounded. I enjoyed the way in which the author wove contemporary sources and Paiute folklore into her story. It's not an especially sophisticated book (for good or for ill) but it is not without complexity. Nineteenth century U.S. cultural and political constraints are clearly illustrated, along with Sarah's personal life and the tribulations facing the Paiutes & other Native Americans of that era. I think it would be of interest to anyone interested in 19th century women, Native Americans, or the frontier.

5.0 out of 5 stars Sarah Winnemucca, May 23, 2010

By 

Bryan W. Carpenter "BWC" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sarah Winnemucca (American Indian Lives) (Paperback)

Read AFTER you read Sarah's book. Straightens out small, insignifficant "errors" made by Sarah. No fiction here.

I recommend "buy."

This book does NOT take the place of reading Sarah's book.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Treasure, May 28, 2003

By 

S. tawil "t1234567890" (Brooklyn NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sarah Winnemucca (American Indian Lives) (Hardcover)

a piece of historical treasure, how often do you see a book written by an indian woman from the 1800's? it is a must own for anyone remotely interested in indians, or american history.