minnejenny's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Diane Wilson did a superb job putting you in the shoes of women from her family tree starting with Rosalie, a Native Ameican, caught in the 1862 US-Dakota War. Wilson made her history and our shared stories come alive and feel personal.
libkatem's review against another edition
5.0
Part memoir, part family history, part creative nonfiction, this book will punch you in the gut and leave you crying.
In a good way?
IDK, I'm white, and though I was born in Minnesota, growing up mostly in Kap'oza, living now so so close to Mendota, it feels important - imperative, urgent even - to engage with Dakota stories in a meaningful way.
In a good way?
IDK, I'm white, and though I was born in Minnesota, growing up mostly in Kap'oza, living now so so close to Mendota, it feels important - imperative, urgent even - to engage with Dakota stories in a meaningful way.
r00tz's review
5.0
This book centered on MN and SD. I really appreciated the personal accounts and how someone might process their lineage and celebrate their heritage, both the challenges and overcoming them. I highly recommend this book!
kevinhendricks's review
5.0
This is part memoir, part fiction about a woman exploring her family history and connection to the Dakota War of 1862 in Minnesota. It goes back and forth between re-imaged history and her own search to uncover family roots. What's fascinating is her family's status as "half-breeds," something that effectively ended with her mother (the author is one-eighth native). In 1862 the story centers on a full-blooded Dakota woman who married a French fur trader and finds herself taking refuge in Fort Ridgely while many of her family members are attacking the fort. For the authors mother, it meant growing up in a reservation school, being considered "white trash" and never quite fitting in with either side, white or native. The story culminates in a commemorative march, remembering the forced march of Dakota women, children and elders to the prison camp at Fort Snelling. This section especially hit home as I can picture the final bridge they crossed and path they took into Fort Snelling. It's only a few miles from my house. (I'm giving it five stars because I found it so incredibly engaging and riveting—I read it one day. While I think it's a great book, I think my geographic connection plays a big role in that.) Also, this book was recommended to me by the saleswoman at Birchbark Books in Minneapolis, which is a testament to the power of the local bookstore.
ereddall's review
4.0
At times I had trouble following all of the people, but overall I loved this memoir. It was very well done.
margardenlady's review
5.0
This one was a slow starter. The first chapters were filled with lots of history that was written in the manner of a diary, recording process and items learned. Wilson has spent years researching the stories she shares here - a process at once cathartic and nostalgic. The scene that will live on in my memory is the recreation of the March of 1862, and the meaning imbued by each step of the trek. This is an important story. Part of American history that needs to be told to our children, just like the Japanese internment camps and the slaughter of so many native peoples as America was settled by European immigrants. We must learn.
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