5 comments about Sacajawea : Her True Story.

1. SACAJAWEA: Her True Story is a brilliant, thought-provoking biography of Sacajawea, America's most memorialized female. The sheer tenderness of the author's affection for his subject contrasts sharply with his rebukes of her perceived antagonists -- including her adopted state of Wyoming for not embracing her properly and noted historians such as Steven Ambrose for claiming she died in 1812 in South Dakota. The author's documentation that Sacajawea died in 1884 and is buried in Wyoming seems quite convincing, pending better documentation than Ambrose and others have provided regarding the 1812 South Dakota theory. The fact that the U. S. Government, which funded an investigation, and her own Shoshoni people agree with Mr. Haney is also quite persuasive, as is the fact that the only Sacajawea tombstone, listing her death as April 9th, 1884, is on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation. I'd like to see that grave, unless Ambrose can convince me that it's not there or that it's inaccurate. Simply awesome!



2. The Year 2000 Golden Dollar Coin rekindled my interest in Sacajawea and in discussing it with a friend I was informed of Rich Haney's new book entitled SACAJAWEA: Her True Story. I exerted some effort to secure a copy and I now prize it like no other. Beautifully written and superbly documented, I believe it is a vastly important book that, to my satisfaction, delineates 1884 and the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming as the time and place of Sacajawea's death, and the time and place of her burial. I had been skeptical of claims by noted historians such as Steven Ambrose and Ken Burns that Sacajawea died in 1812 in South Dakota, and Rich Haney does the best job of challening that fallacy. And whether Sacajawea died in 1812 or in 1884, and where she is buried, is, I think vastly important. After all, she was already by far the most memorialized female in American history, even prior to the Year 2000 Golden Dollar Coin that will forever bear her image. This little book is a treasure for both Sacajawea and history buffs, like me.



3. The Sunday, August 13th, 2000, Denver Post had a review of SACAJAWEA: Her True Story by its Nonfiction Editor Sandra Dallas. Ms. Dallas wrote: "Every now and then, a book comes along that challenges historical 'fact' and does it well enough to make you wonder. Did Butch Cassidy die in Bolivia, or did he wind up as a dentist in Seattle? Was Billy the Kid really shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett, or did he die an old man in a little town in New Mexico? Now comes Rich Haney who claims in SACAJAWEA: Her True Story that the Lewis and Clark guide did not die at Fort Manuel in 1812, as most historians claim, but married an Indian named Jirk Meat, lived until 1884 and is buried on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Haney makes a compelling case, citing a number of Indian sources. The 'Snake squaw' (as she was described) who died in 1812 was indeed the wife of Charbonneau, Sacajawea's husband. But he had several wives. The dead woman was Otter Woman, another wife, Haney says. That makes sense. A one-time Virginia television sportscaster, Haney is passionate about his subject. He has a credible argument...



4. While the premise of Rich Haney's book "Sacajawea" is interesting - he is concerned with proving that she died in 1884 on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and not in 1812 at Fort Mandan in South Dakota - this entire book of 128 pages could and should be condensed into an essay of much shorter length. The material is unbelievably badly organized and repetitive; one never knows where one is in the chronology of events, either the author's or Sacajawea's. A good editor would hopefully have made sense out of this chaos, done away with some of the jargon that seems so out of place (such as saying that Sacajawea "was not too bent out of shape whan a rival tribe mauled her village and took her captive" or "Ken Burns and Steven Ambrose consented to be interviewed only so the 'news' networks or the 'news'papers would pimp both their new projects") and straightened out the rough grammar. Mr. Haney is obviously an amateur historian with a cause, and I congratulate him for his loyalty to and admiration of his Indian subject. However, I wish I hadn't had to spend four hours reading what should have taken me one.



5. I've been enchanted with Sacajawea for forty years, all my adult life. I am now enchanted with Rich Haney's book SACAJAWEA: Her True Story, which I think is the definitive book regarding the very important questions of when she died and where she is buried. Most people, it seems, agree with me and with Mr. Haney's conclusions that she died in 1884 and is buried on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and that is was another Shoshoni, Otter Woman, that died in 1812 in South Dakota...[T]he very first two sentences of Mr. Haney's book, the Prologue, states very plainly: "This in not an attempt to tell Sacajawea's story in chronological order, because the basic facts have been enumerated many times across two centuries. Rather, I endeavor to elaborate on the reasons many white historians erroneously maintain that she died in 1812 at Fort Manuel in South Dakota, although her Shoshoni people rightfully claim she died in 1884 on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation, her final resting place." With that defining parameter, Mr. Haney successfully separates his book from all other Sacajawea books, most of which have merely added to the mystery as to when Sacajawea died and where she is buried. Mr. Haney, better than any other Sacajawea biographer, clears up that mystery by starkly corroborating the Oral/Traditional History of the Shoshones with a plethora of documentation from the white world, including the testimony of people such as the U. S. Government's investigator, Dr. Charles Eastman; John Roberts, the preacher who knew her and buried her; Mormons who interacted closely with the Shoshones; and a bevy of white people who lived and/or worked on the Wind River Reservation during the years Sacajawea lived and died there. At the same time, Mr. Haney minutely points out how and why many white historians, including Stephen Ambrose, mistook Otter Woman's death at Fort Manuel in 1812 as being the death of Sacajawea. To pull this off, Mr. Haney, as he outlined in the Prologue, reviewed various accounts of Sacajawea's life, explaining where those accounts were similar and where they differed and then discussing the nuances before proving that, essentially, the Shoshones themselves have been totally correct in unwaveringly mandating Sacajawea's life and death. The "repetitive" style, complete with an astute explanation of how the nuances agreed or disagreed with the Shoshones, is exactly what convinced me that Sacajawea's own people indeed know exactly when she died -- April 9th, 1884 -- and exactly where she is buried, on the Wind River Reservation. ...Mr. Haney vividly explains the cultures of the Plains Indians -- which included repeated raids by rival tribes to raid Shoshoni villages for the express purpose of capturing Shoshoni girls... Mr. Haney's version of Sacajawea's reaction to being captured precisely parallels the views of the Plains Indians, as he documents. ...I've read the book three times and ...discovered... only beautifully written, markedly lucid sentences. By contrast, any "editor" would find Anonymous's sentences replete with "rough grammar" and misspelled words. Anonymous, for example, spells "when" as "whan." Also, Anonymous obviously doesn't know much about Sacajawea. He/she, for example, confuses "Fort Mandan" with Fort Manuel concerning where Otter Woman died. Well, Mr. Haney obviously does know more than a little bit about Sacajawea, including when she died and where she is buried. I believe...Mr. Haney's refreshing and insightful biography of America's most memorialized female. ...I am not Anonymous in Jacksonville, Florida.

No comments about Pope: Architect of the First American Revolution, August 10, 1680.

5 comments about The Last Comanche Chief: The Life and Times of Quanah Parker.

1. Bill Neeley gives new life to the legend of Quanah Parker, Numu Paraiboo. More than just a biography, this book gives valuable insights into the culture and lifestyle of the Numunuu people and the training of the "Lords of the Plains", the best mounted cavalry in the world. Highly recommend for its accuracy and truth. Five stars



2. Written okay, but I mean REALLY! Why not saint the individual who is the subject of this book? Perhaps he could walk on water to among all of his other superhuman qualities???? If you take the time to read the reviews here - all by people who are wannabe Indians and/or haters of their own heritage and race - you'll get a very distorted view of what this book contains - which is a record of brutality, sadistic butchery, and mindless aggression against other peoples, until of course, elements such as the Texas Rangers took the starch out and fight out of said noble Red Aristocrat.
   But there is an even more important point that needs to be addressed. This point concerns how ANY modern-day writer can possibly write about a long-dead individual of a completely alien culture in an accurate way. That is, its one thing to write about what this particular Indian ( or any other individual Indian of any other tribe ) did during his life according to what is known of his ACTIVITIES, but it is utterly impossible to write about his FEELINGS, his DESIRES, his MOTIVATIONS, his THOUGHTS, etc. Since the writer cannot "get inside the mind" of this Indian, how can he possibly offer the reader anything except story, not fact concerning this Indian's character and personality? This author, and many like him, simply weave their own biases and tastes into a personality profile of one Indian or another, and then offer this trash to the reader as FACT, when in fact it is mere story telling.
   If you happen to be interested in the Comanche, read "Comanches - Pimlico Wild West Series", and get FACTS, not modern-day fiction-as-fact. For example; take note that the Comanches slaughtered other Indian tribes without mercy ( almost exterminating many groups of the Apeches ) and ran a bustling slave trade in which they sold captives among themselves or to the Spanish. They also acted as mercinaries, accepting money from the Spanish to exterminate Apaches in the northern Provinces of Mexico ( in one year, the Comanches were paid 18,000.00 Pesos for Apache scalps - 6 Pesos per scalp! ).
   And except for the Kiowa, who often had their bloody, horrific, sadistic outrages mistaken for depredations of Comanches, the Comanches were easily the most brutal and fiendish of all the Plains Tribes when it came to abuse, torture, and inhuman treatment of captives ( Red, White, or Mexican ). No, there is a LOT the reader should be aware of in books dealing with Indians such as these, but such FACTS are carefully kept out of the reader's awareness by books like this one. Read on through this review of mine and learn!
   
   This sort of quasi-sob story type of literature (proliferating these days) which deals with long-dead Amer-Indians and events of the past really are annoying. Much better books are Three Years Among the Comanches: The Narrative of Nelson Lee, the Texas Ranger and Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870-1879: The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians as well as Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865-1879 and lastly, Life Among the Apaches (Bison Book). And be sure not to miss The Kiowas (Civilization of the American Indian Series). Each of these books which I recommend is superb in its own way and for specific reasons, and all will serve to blast the reader straight out of the present Politically Correct SPELL of Fiction-As-Fact concerning the American Indians of the Western Frontier - a spell which has been cast by the likes of Dee Brown with his psuedo history-fantasy "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" and movies like K. Costner's imbecilic "Dances With Wolves" ( or more appropriately, "DUNCES With Wolves").
   
   Thanks to crack-brained leftist snivelers making one highly slanted documentary after another, and of course the hack writers who seek to twist historic record and fact so it conforms to their own civilization-depreciating schemes, we are swamped with PC Sob Story works like this one that leave the unknowledgeable reader with a completely FALSE impression about what actually happened under the vast and lonely skies of the center of this continent only a few hundred years ago.
   
   Consider this problem seriously. You are being fed half-truths, distorted information, and twisted facts in many cases by books such as this one. Now, if you're interested in an ACCURATE perspective on the Wild Frontier, read the titles I've recommended for you here, especially "Comanches - Pimlico Wild West". If you're one of these well-programmed PC flunkies who thinks he or she "has it all figured out" when it comes to the poor, helpless, hounded AmerIndians of yesteryear, then you absolutely must read the titles I've recommended here! I DARE YOU! Do this and THEN read this book and other trumped-up trash literature such as "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" and watch "Dunces With Wolves" and you'll see just how the wool's been pulled over your eyes!



3. This is a very good book if you are interested in the life of Quanah Parker. . . Very Good
   
   Thank You,
   Lehman Tiller



4. I received the book in a timely manner and it is everything I hoped it would be.



5. Good, well put together book about Quanah Parker.
   If you like native American history, this is one book you should defiantly have for your personal library.

1 comments about The Winter Walk: A Century-Old Survival Story from the Arctic.

1. An interesting story about a woman who had to make some tough choices for her young family to allow them the best chances or survival.Basic reading and not terribly well written but then is the story of a simple person in a primitive type existence. One of those amazing stories about survival under difficult circumstances. Recommended for young readers of those interested in Native Alaskan peoples.

No comments about Massasoit of the Wampanoags.

3 comments about Wind Wolf Woman: The Story of a Medicine Woman.

1. I have not only had the pleasure of reading this book, but meeting the author. A truly amazing 70+ year old woman who has the ability to take her life's lessons and transform them into a prose that will capture anyone who is interested in the American Indian way of life. This "fictional autobiography" was designed not only to be read cover-to-cover, which will keep you turning the pages, but can be opened at random, and within a few sentences you will get a message on how to (or not to) travel The Red Pathway.

   The book is filled with every type of emotion: Love, hate, fear, humor and dispicable behavior. All of which show how we are all related, not only on this earth but throughout the universe.

   You will not be dissapointed!




2. This is by far one of the best books I have ever read.It takes you to places you can only dream about.



3. The real-life story of the evolution of a modern-day Sioux medicine woman. A very down to earth and inspiring story. Trained by her grandmother and other elders, Mahinto travelled the world until she became ready to return and "take on the mandtle" of the ancient ones. Her pain and suffering led to wisdom. She has helped many women find their true internal powers and strength. Great book and story.

2 comments about Te Ata: Chickasaw Storyteller, American Treasure.

1. Richard Green has captured the spirit of independence and the Native American in this fabulous collection of pages from Te Ata's diary and notes from her husband Clyde Fisher.



2. This book was an outstanding read! I had never heard of Te Ata before, and knew very little about Chickasaws. I heard about this book from several of my colleagues and I was captivated by it. Richard Green does an exceptional job writing of the life of an american princess!

5 comments about Molly Spotted Elk: A Penobscot in Paris.

1. As a middle school librarian in a county with two tribes, I am always looking for books that will model exellence for our young men and women. This is a fascinating read about a native American young woman in the early days of Hollywood. We can't afford this book yet, but it is one of three that top my list for next year's order. We have 180 feet of empty shelves.



2. This is a wonderfully lyrical account of the life of a Penobscot woman who against great odds overcomes poverty and illness through her intelligence, love of beauty and dance and her connection to her Native American heritage. Her romance with a French Resistance-member journalist and her escape over the Alps with her infant daughter during World War II is spell-binding. I loved this book!



3. This is a beautifully-written biography of a young Penobscot woman from Indian Island, Maine. She danced in vaudeville, Wild West shows, and even went topless in New York before dancing before royalty in Europe. She had a passionate but tragic love affair with a French journalist, and fled with her daughter from the Nazis. Molly suffered greatly in her lifetime but shone among her people as a strong matriarch with dazzling basketweaving skills and musical talents. She deserves to have her story told at last.



4. The first 30 years of Molly's life are a fascinating story, but this writer was not the one to tell it. The awkward and amateurish quality of the writing detracts from an inherently interesting tale. The prose is particularly cringe-worthy when the writer attempts to summarize history or wax lyrical about complete strangers' guessed-at emotional states. The book needed a good copy editor, too - it has far too many errors.
   Molly deserved a biographer (and perhaps an editor to work with the writer) who could shape a well written account of her life.



5. THIS WAS BOUGHT AS A PRESENT. I HAVE READ IS AS IT IS ABOUT MY MOTHER. EVERYONE WHO READ IT HAS THOROUGHLY ENJOYED IT. JEAN A MOORE. MAINE

5 comments about Give Me My Father's Body: The Life of Minik, the New York Eskimo.

1. Storyline is very intriguing, but the writing is a bit droll. It is also longer than necessary.



2. Kenn Harper has managed to bring together an amazing story through detailed research. Minik, the Polar Eskimo child, was brought to the US by Robert Peary and essentially placed on display. The story of his disconnected life is full of pathos and sorrow. Yet Harper weaves the story with life.

   Peary's behaviors were simply egotistic and reprehensible. He treated the Eskimos as his property. He placed their lives in harms' way by bringing them to a culture and location that assaulted their senses and immune systems. Minik was the price paid for that deed.

   I did get bogged down in names from time to time, especially as Harper recounted the financial misdealings of Wallace, who had taken responsibility for Minik. But overall, the story is entertaining and enlightening. It speaks to the ethnocentrism of Peary's generation and to the isolation of the Polar Eskimos. It took me a long time to read and absorb this book but it was rewarding in the end... to see and feel a culture so far away.




3. Kenn Harper's Give Me My Father's Body is undeniably and superbly researched; easily the book's crowning achievement. Occasionally though, I was annoyed with the "what if" scenarios. At least twice in the book Harper says what would have happened if things had gone another way. In one instance, the book describes Minik's plan to return to the Greenland and to lead a group of Inuit to the North Pole. He hoped to attain international honour for his people. Harper made the declaration that even had Minik tried, there was no way that he would have been successful. He further added that Minik's desire to prove the superiority of his race was an ethnocentric idea no doubt learned from the white people of New York, that the Greenland Inuit would balk at such ideas and that, with nothing to gain but glory for their people, they would surely refuse to help Minik. Even if Harper's learned ethnocentrism theory is correct, Harper has no way of ever knowing what Minik could have accomplished had he tried. If Minik had learned such ideas from white people, who's to say the Greenland Inuit wouldn't in turn learn such ideas from Minik? The point is, no one knows what would have happened and it is futile to guess (even for the well-informed). Also, the edition of the book that I have, has included discussion questions at the end for readers groups. These are very laughable. To paraphrase a typical question, "Kenn Harper lives among the people that he writes about and is therefore the greatest historian and writer to ever write about Northern peoples. Discuss how his portrayal of Eskimos is the most accurate description ever to be put on paper." But despite the embarrassing readers club guide at the end and the occasional subjective statement from Harper, the book is eye-opening about the victims of science and was a pleasurable read.



4. This book is a must-read. The reader must come into it ready to make his or her own conclusions about the material, though, as it is written to persuade a certain viewpoint. With no other viewpoints offered to compare this one to, it is difficult to say for certain if this one is correct. The story is one that anyone interested in humanity, globalization, anthropology or just an interesting story should read.



5. Poor Minik, captured by white traders and brought to Manhattan to be a freak! It was the age of freaks, when everyone who was different was first taken away from their home, and then put on display. Minik found out that his beloved father had been stuffed and mounted for all to jeer at the New York Museum of Natural History.
   
   Author Harper has been through the files of the Museum and what he has come up with will convince even people who love the Museum, that reparations are in order. Eskimo people are not the only ones outraged at the long ago disposition of native relics. It is still worthy of outrage. What puzzles me is actor Kevin Spacey's interest in this affair. His preface to the book is well-written, not that I believe he actually put pen to paper to write it up, but clearly he has an emotional investment in this material and, from what I understand, he is planning to play Minik himself once his duties as Lex Luthor are finished in the new Superman movie. But why not let a native actor play the part? My in-laws who know Kenn Harper by reputation, and who have seen him speak in public, say that Spacey is part Inuit and hgas had a long interest in Peary's expeditions.
   
   Peary himself emerges from Harper's well-researched book as a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand he showed true courage in surmounting obstacles and sub zero temperatures. On the other hand he was not particular gifted in solving human personnel difficulties, and seems to have grown impatient if his will was crossed by others (or by the hand of God). We have all known men like Peary--impetuous, self-assured, and gifted. But few of us have known the crushing tragedy of Minik of Qaanaaq, of Greenland's icy shores.

No comments about Indian Lives: Essays on Nineteenth- And Twentieth-Century Native American Leaders.