From Library Journal
Mourning Dove (Christine Quintasket) spent her adult years justifying the ways of Native Americans to whites. Born into Colville Confederated Tribes in 1885 or 1888, she became an ethnographer, orator, pamphleteer, teacher, and novelist, believing that her description and analysis of Native American ways would ensure better treatment for her people. In the scholarly introduction to her unfinished autobiography, editor Miller describes his work with the Colvilles and his acquisition of Mourning Dove's manuscripts and notes, which he arranges according to important customs and cyclical/seasonal activities. Mourning Dove's evocation of the complexities of tribal life is irresistible, full of acutely remembered conversations, ceremonies, and events. "What kept us going," she says, "was the knowledge that everything on earth has its purpose, every disease an herb to cure it, and every person a mission. That is the Indian theory of existence." Notes, references, and photographs provide additional perspectives. Recommended for academic libraries and Native American collections.
- Rhoda Carroll, Vermont Coll., MontpelierCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Review
"[This] autobiography artfully weaves tribal history, Salishan traditions, and a wealth of information of the female life cycle with the story of [Christine] Quintasket's own childhood and coming of age on the Colville Reservation in Washington. "Mourning Dove" is a rare and important study of the Interior Salish people during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Miller, by providing thoughtful editing and constructive footnotes, have given new life to Mourning Dove's narrative."-"Western Historical Quarterly,"
