Reviews
Theda Perdue brings to life women long consigned to the shadows of historical anonymity ... should appeal to both scholars and the general public., "A masterful collection. Clearly and concisely leads the reader through the varied and changing environments which these women faced, and whets the appitite for further inquiry into this fascinating subject. Any student of Native American life will benefit from reading this book."--Indigenous Nations Studies Journal"A very useful adjunct to an American history survey course. A welcome addition to the rapidly growing body of literature on Native American women."--Western Historical Quarterly"The way in which the individual authors within this volume have sifted these stories from the available evidence 'serves to personalize and feminize the story of Native America.' Consequently, reading about the fourteen women described in this book should appeal to both scholars and the general public. The editor and authors are to be particularly commended for the lively writing style that characterizes each of the bio-histories in Sifters. It will serve as stimulating reading for students across a variety of disciplines: Indian history, United States history, and Women's Studies."--Biography"In these carefully and intriguingly rendered bio-histories of Native women, Sifters accomplishes just what its title implies. Sifters separates the life-sustaining kernels of historical truth about these women from the nutritionless functional chaff usually provided an audience unaware of its inadequate diet. In their re-reading of these lives--of women we thought we knew, women we've genuinely misapprehended, and women we've needed to know-the book's authors also re-read and reframe significant moments in and ideas about Native history, American history."--Rayna Green, Smithsonian Institution"The biographies presented in Sifters are equally compelling and complex, each providing glimpses into the worlds in which Native women have made choices about their lives in the past 500 years...An important contribution to the growing scholarship on Native American women and would be an excellent selection for use in classes in Native American and Women's history."--H-Net"Sifters is a wonderful collection of stories that would be useful to any teacher of U.S. history."--The History Teacher"Taken as a whole this book presents a well reasoned, well-researched account of a selected group of women that meets historians' and academicians' needs for information regarding specific American Indian women and their interactions with the larger socio-historical period as well as the consequences of their existence in that larger framework."--J. Anne Calhoun, University of New Mexico"Sifters remains a valuable contribution to our understanding of both the continuity and diversity marking the lives of American Indian women at crucial persiods in history."--Florida Historical Quarterly, Theda Perdue, who has edited this collection, is a highly respected ethnohistorian, and this book reflects not just her skills as an historian but her knowledge of indigenous society., Perdue has done an excellent job in bringing together contributors from history, anthropology, English, American studies, and women's studies., ... a valuable contribution to our understanding of both the continuity and diversity marking the lives of American Indian women at crucial periods in history., "A masterful collection. Clearly and concisely leads the reader through the varied and changing environments which these women faced, and whets the appitite for further inquiry into this fascinating subject. Any student of Native American life will benefit from reading this book."--Indigenous Nations Studies Journal"A very useful adjunct to an American history survey course. A welcome addition to the rapidly growing body of literature on Native American women."--Western Historical Quarterly"The way in which the individual authors within this volume have sifted these stories from the available evidence 'serves to personalize and feminize the story of Native America.' Consequently, reading about the fourteen women described in this book should appeal to both scholars and the general public. The editor and authors are to be particularly commended for the lively writing style that characterizes each of the bio-histories in Sifters. It willserve as stimulating reading for students across a variety of disciplines: Indian history, United States history, and Women's Studies."--Biography"In these carefully and intriguingly rendered bio-histories of Native women, Sifters accomplishes just what its title implies. Sifters separates the life-sustaining kernels of historical truth about these women from the nutritionless functional chaff usually provided an audience unaware of its inadequate diet. In their re-reading of these lives--of women we thought we knew, women we've genuinely misapprehended, and women we've needed to know-the book's authorsalso re-read and reframe significant moments in and ideas about Native history, American history."--Rayna Green, Smithsonian Institution"The biographies presented in Sifters are equally compelling and complex, each providing glimpses into the worlds in which Native women have made choices about their lives in the past 500 years...An important contribution to the growing scholarship on Native American women and would be an excellent selection for use in classes in Native American and Women's history."--H-Net"Sifters is a wonderful collection of stories that would be useful to any teacher of U.S. history."--The History Teacher"Taken as a whole this book presents a well reasoned, well-researched account of a selected group of women that meets historians' and academicians' needs for information regarding specific American Indian women and their interactions with the larger socio-historical period as well as the consequences of their existence in that larger framework."--J. Anne Calhoun, University of New Mexico"Sifters remains a valuable contribution to our understanding of both the continuity and diversity marking the lives of American Indian women at crucial persiods in history."--Florida Historical Quarterly, "Siftersremains a valuable contribution to our understanding of both the continuity and diversity marking the lives of American Indian women at crucial persiods in history." --Florida Historical Quarterly "Taken as a whole this book presents a well reasoned, well-researched account of a selected group of women that meets historians' and academicians' needs for information regarding specific American Indian women and their interactions with the larger socio-historical period as well as the consequences of their existence in that larger framework."-J. Anne Calhoun, University of New Mexico, "Sifters remains a valuable contribution to our understanding of both the continuity and diversity marking the lives of American Indian women at crucial persiods in history." --Florida Historical Quarterly "Taken as a whole this book presents a well reasoned, well-researched account of a selected group of women that meets historians' and academicians' needs for information regarding specific American Indian women and their interactions with the larger socio-historical period as well as the consequences of their existence in that larger framework."- J. Anne Calhoun, University of New Mexico, ... lively writing style .. will serve as stimulating reading for students across a variety of disciplines: Indian history, United States history, and Women's Studies., " Sifters remains a valuable contribution to our understanding of both the continuity and diversity marking the lives of American Indian women at crucial persiods in history." -- Florida Historical Quarterly "Taken as a whole this book presents a well reasoned, well-researched account of a selected group of women that meets historians' and academicians' needs for information regarding specific American Indian women and their interactions with the larger socio-historical period as well as the consequences of their existence in that larger framework."- J. Anne Calhoun, University of New Mexico, "A masterful collection. Clearly and concisely leads the reader through the varied and changing environments which these women faced, and whets the appitite for further inquiry into this fascinating subject. Any student of Native American life will benefit from reading this book."--Indigenous Nations Studies Journal "A very useful adjunct to an American history survey course. A welcome addition to the rapidly growing body of literature on Native American women."--Western Historical Quarterly "The way in which the individual authors within this volume have sifted these stories from the available evidence 'serves to personalize and feminize the story of Native America.' Consequently, reading about the fourteen women described in this book should appeal to both scholars and the general public. The editor and authors are to be particularly commended for the lively writing style that characterizes each of the bio-histories in Sifters. It will serve as stimulating reading for students across a variety of disciplines: Indian history, United States history, and Women's Studies."--Biography "In these carefully and intriguingly rendered bio-histories of Native women, Sifters accomplishes just what its title implies. Sifters separates the life-sustaining kernels of historical truth about these women from the nutritionless functional chaff usually provided an audience unaware of its inadequate diet. In their re-reading of these lives--of women we thought we knew, women we've genuinely misapprehended, and women we've needed to know-the book's authors also re-read and reframe significant moments in and ideas about Native history, American history."--Rayna Green, Smithsonian Institution "The biographies presented in Sifters are equally compelling and complex, each providing glimpses into the worlds in which Native women have made choices about their lives in the past 500 years...An important contribution to the growing scholarship on Native American women and would be an excellent selection for use in classes in Native American and Women's history."--H-Net "Sifters is a wonderful collection of stories that would be useful to any teacher of U.S. history."--The History Teacher "Taken as a whole this book presents a well reasoned, well-researched account of a selected group of women that meets historians' and academicians' needs for information regarding specific American Indian women and their interactions with the larger socio-historical period as well as the consequences of their existence in that larger framework."--J. Anne Calhoun, University of New Mexico "Sifters remains a valuable contribution to our understanding of both the continuity and diversity marking the lives of American Indian women at crucial persiods in history."--Florida Historical Quarterly, This ambitious volume provides a good introduction to the varying roles played by American Indian women from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries.
Synopsis
In this edited volume, Theda Perdue, a nationally known expert on Indian history and southern women's history, offers a rich collection of biographical essays on Native American women. From Pocahontas, a Powhatan woman of the seventeenth century, to Ada Deer, the Menominee woman who headed the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 1990s, the essays span four centuries. Each one recounts the experiences of women from vastly different cultural traditions--the hunting and gathering of Kumeyaay culture of Delfina Cuero, the pueblo society of San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez, and the powerful matrilineal kinship system of Molly Brant's Mohawks. Contributors focus on the ways in which different women have fashioned lives that remain firmly rooted in their identity as Native women. Perdue's introductory essay ties together the themes running through the biographical sketches, including the cultural factors that have shaped the lives of Native women, particularly economic contributions, kinship, and belief, and the ways in which historical events, especially in United States Indian policy, have engendered change.
