Ohitika Woman

Book excerpt: In this follow-up to her acclaimed memoir Lakota Woman, the bestselling author shares “a grim yet gripping account” of Native American life (The Boston Globe). In this stirring sequel to the now-classic Lakota Woman, Mary Brave Bird continues the chronicle of her life with the same grit, passion, and piercing insight. It is a tale of ancient glory and present anguish, of courage and despair, of magic and mystery, and, above all, of the survival of both body and mind. Having returned home from Wounded Knee in 1973 and gotten married to American Indian movement leader Leonard Crow Dog, Mary became a mother who had hope of a better life. But, as she says, “Trouble always finds me.” With brutal frankness she bares her innermost thoughts, recounting the dark as well as the bright moments in her tumultuous life. She talks about the stark truths of being a Native American living in a white-dominated society as well as her experience of being a mother, a woman, and, rarest of all, a Sioux feminist. Filled with contrasts, courage, and endurance, Ohitika Woman is a powerful testament to Mary’s will and spirit.