Sarah Winnemucca

By Sally Springmeyer Zanjani

Subjects: Biography, Paiute Indians, Government relations

Description: "This is the triumphant and moving story of Sarah Winnemucca (1844-91), one of the most influential and charismatic Native American women in American history. Born in a Paiute community in western Nevada at a time when the Paiutes' homeland and traditional way of life were increasingly threatened, 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 American woman. Using private contributions, she returned to Nevada and founded a Native school whose educational practices and standards were far ahead of its time.". "Sally Zanjani's extensively researched and sensitive portrait of this remarkable woman is complex and compelling, composed not only of public challenges and accomplishments but also of private struggles, joys, and ambitions. Unforgettable glimpses of her personality and private life leap from these pages: her notorious sharp tongue and wit, her love of performance, her place in a legendary family of Paiute leaders, her long string of failed relationships, and, at the end, possible poisoning by a romantic rival."--BOOK JACKET.