Wynema: A Child of the Forest

This book is considered to be the first novel written by a Native American woman, Sophia Alice Callahan, who was the daughter of a Muscogee father and a EuroAmerican mother. Originally published in 1891, this 1997 reprint includes an explanatory introduction by a literature scholar as well as biographical material about Callahan, who was about 23 when she wrote it and 26 when she died. "Wynema" tells the story of a young Indian child who becomes the student and then friend of a white missionary woman. Through this structure, Wynema grows up and learns about the world, but also teaches her white mentors. Together, they learn about each other's cultures and advocate for women's rights and Native American rights. Through her characters, Callahan criticizes U.S. Indian policies and the massacre at Wounded Knee Creek, an actual event that occurred in 1891. This was Callahan's first publication, and it shows. It is at times inconsistent and melodramatic, but at others, compelling and heartbreaking. So don't read it because you want an excellent novel, because it is not. If you want to read an historic artifact and to experience the viewpoint of a young woman who had very clear opinions about the state of the two worlds she inhabited, then get it.

Superb. if you want to know anything about American-Indian history, the background notes are excellent.

Boring, very short not well thought out