A review by anishinaabekwereads
Making a Difference: My Fight for Native Rights and Social Justice by Theda Perdue, Ada Deer, Charles Wilkinson
4.0
Making a Difference is a testament to Ada Deer's phenomenally important place in Indigenous history. It seems most everyone I know knows who Ada Deer is, at least in name, and it's no surprise. With her important role in Menominee restoration following U.S. federal Termination of the tribe's sovereign rights, she's long been an important name in Native America. Her 1990s service in the BIA as assistant secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, too, made her name synonymous with shaking up D.C. and making change happen.
This autobiography written with Theda Perdue is a thorough remembering of Deer's long life. Beginning in her childhood in Menominee with her parents and siblings to her college years in the University of Wisconsin system to her work as a social worker, this book has an almost overwhelming amount of detail. Don't get me wrong, it's written in a matter-of-fact style with contextual history and analytical statements about the struggles of Native America. It's like an elder telling a story. Still, it's incredibly difficult to keep track of all Deer has done over her 85 years. Truly, the fact that her many roles and actions become overwhelmingly difficult to keep track of past the halfway point is a testament to just how much work Deer has done for her people, for all Indigenous people in what is now the U.S.
I honestly don't read many autobiographies, but this one was a must-read and I urge you to pick it up too if you have any interest in 20th century American Indian history and Indigenous activism.
This autobiography written with Theda Perdue is a thorough remembering of Deer's long life. Beginning in her childhood in Menominee with her parents and siblings to her college years in the University of Wisconsin system to her work as a social worker, this book has an almost overwhelming amount of detail. Don't get me wrong, it's written in a matter-of-fact style with contextual history and analytical statements about the struggles of Native America. It's like an elder telling a story. Still, it's incredibly difficult to keep track of all Deer has done over her 85 years. Truly, the fact that her many roles and actions become overwhelmingly difficult to keep track of past the halfway point is a testament to just how much work Deer has done for her people, for all Indigenous people in what is now the U.S.
I honestly don't read many autobiographies, but this one was a must-read and I urge you to pick it up too if you have any interest in 20th century American Indian history and Indigenous activism.