Predictably, the press vilified Weldon, calling her “Sitting Bull’s white squaw” and accusing her of inciting Sitting Bull to join the Ghost Dance religion then sweeping the West. In fact, Weldon opposed the movement, arguing that the army would use the Ghost dance as an excuse to jail or kill Sitting Bull. Unfortunately she was right.
Up to now, history has distorted and largely overlooked Weldon’s story. In retracing Weldon’s steps, Eileen Pollack recovers her life and compares her world to our own. Weldon’s moving struggle is a classic example of the misunderstandings that can occur when a white woman attempts to build friendships across cultural lines and assist the members of an oppressed minority fighting for their rights.
“A wonderful poignance, a bittersweetness, the haunting loneliness of the plains hangs over this ‘search’ . . . a fascinating project.”--Peter Nabokov
“A fascinating story, well told and engaging. It will be eagerly embraced in the area of women’s studies and will find interested readers in history and anthropology, as well as a large general audience.”-Raymond DeMallie
