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The bestselling memoir of a Native American woman's struggles and the life she found in activism: "courageous, impassioned, poetic and inspirational" (Publishers Weekly).
Mary Brave Bird grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota in a one-room cabin without running water or electricity. With her white father gone, she was left to endure "half-breed" status amid the violence, machismo, and aimless drinking of life on the reservation. Rebelling against all this—as well as a punishing Catholic missionary school—she became a teenage runaway.
Mary was eighteen and pregnant when the rebellion at Wounded Knee happened in 1973. Inspired to take action, she joined the American Indian Movement to fight for the rights of her people. Later, she married Leonard Crow Dog, the AIM's chief medicine man, who revived the sacred but outlawed Ghost Dance.
Originally published in 1990, Lakota Woman was a national bestseller and winner of the American Book Award. It is a story of determination against all odds, of the cruelties perpetuated against American Indians, and of the Native American struggle for rights. Working with Richard Erdoes, one of the twentieth century's leading writers on Native American affairs, Brave Bird recounts her difficult upbringing and the path of her fascinating life.
Praise for Lakota Woman
“Inspirational.”—The Midwest Book Review
“A gritty, convincing document of one woman’s struggle to overcome poverty and oppression in order to live in dignity as an American Indian.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Lakota Woman is a view from the inside.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“A powerful autobiography … feisty and determined, warm and even funny, sometimes given to outbursts of rage or sorrow or enthusiasm, always unpretentious and straightforward.” —Chicago Tribune
“Stunningly honest …. The courage, nobility, morality, and humor that fill the pages of this book should be required reading.” —David Amram
“The moving story of a Native American woman who fought her way out of despair and bitterness to find the righteous ways of her ancestors.”—William M. Kunstler
“A piercing look into the ancient yet modern mind of a Sioux woman.” —Oliver Stone
“Her searing autobiography is courageous, impassioned, poetic, and inspirational.” —Publishers Weekly
Mary Brave Bird is the author of Ohitika Woman and Lakota Woman, a national bestseller and winner of The American Book Award.
Richard Erdoes (1912-2008) was one of America's leading writers on Native American affairs. A prominent illustrator and photographer, Erdoes was the author of more than thirty books, including Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions; American Indian Trickster Tales; and Ohitika Woman (with Mary Brave Bird).