Sarah Winnimucca was Paiute, and a political advocate for her people. Her father was Shoshone, who had married into the Paiute Tribe. She was also wrote the first known Native American Autobiography written by a woman, "Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims (1883). DUring her life she traveled East to lobby for her people, and was promised improvements, which did not happen. Consequently she lost the trust of her people. She spent periods of her childhood away form her people, in California or Nevada. During her times away bad things would happen to her people, the worse being the Pyramid Lake War in which many of her people were killed. Because her family traveled widely, (at times play acting to replace their livelihood) she picked up many languages, including three Indian languages, English and Spanish. She used this knowledge in bargaining, interpretation and scouting for the federals.
No comments:
Post a Comment