Vetnita A. reviewed on + 8 more book reviews
This is the second book in a mostly autobiolographical life of Mary Brave Bird, a Lakota Sioux woman who survives the hard life of a modern Native American. Starting where "Lakota Woman" left off, Mary comes home from Wounded Knee in 1973 looking for a better live for her and her family. She mixes her own story with stories of her ancestors, and even those of her grandchildren. She speaks honestly about her battle with alcoholism, her breakdown of her marriage to the American Indian Movement leader Leonard Crow Dog, and of raising her children without any money. This book is an almost painful retrospective of a life lived in the moment but in a time of change. She muses about her feminist belief, the ancient Sioux religion, and food stamps all on the same page. This story is not for those wanting another happy sacred Indian book. This is what the reality of living in the 1970's and 1980's were like for a real woman with real problems. Mary pulls no punches and gives no blanket hope for the future, life is life and we all can relate to living each day at a time. This book is her second and probably would read best after reading "Lakota Woman".
