Sisters in Spirit

by Sally Roesch Wagner

Book Overview

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) women sparked the revolutionary vision of early feminists by providing a model of freedom at a time when American women experienced few rights. Women of the Six Nations Confederacy possessed decisive political power, control of their bodies, control of their own property, custody of their children, the power to initiate divorce, satisfying work and a society generally free of rape and domestic violence. Historian Sally Roesch...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570671214
• ISBN13: 9781570671210
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Native Voices
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Book!

An interesting look at how the Native American culture affected the women's movement in the US.

Flawed but useful

While I found this book offputting at times, with its hardly subtle bashing of Christians and the church, I still think that it is a useful text because it covers subjects that we all too often forget. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) were here first.... the European pioneers, and we their descendants, did not create our society ex nihilo, out of nothing, by our own genius. Our forefathers borrowed heavily from the Five Nations, as we are reminded in this book, and it is to our detriment, and that of our society, that we have forgotten that and grown so far away from it. Just as Dr. Wagner plays up the good and the genius of her main feminists, so she conveniently leaves out the good works of the church. Thus I feel that there are likely other areas where she has exhibited extreme bias. However, this book is very easy to read (accessible) and thought-provoking. If you live in the New York State area or find yourself in the Adirondacks, I highly, Highly recommend that you visit the Six Nations Indian Museum in Onchiota, New York. It has limited hours, but is still run by the Fadden familiy, who are familiar with this material and also offer a nice selection of related titles, such as "White Roots of Peace: The Iroquois Book of Life." I would also very highly recommend going on from this book to read more about the Haudenosaunee, and about native agriculture, and going out to plant the Three Sisters (corn, squash and beans) in your own garden. Go forth and do good in the world.

An impressively engaging anthology of real-life stories

Keeping Heart On Pine Ridge is an impressively engaging anthology of real-life stories in which Vic Glover reveals the challenges, history, bonds, and rich traditions that infuse and reflect the stark realities of life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. One of the very poorest Native American reservations in North America today, these are stories of the authors' family and friends, an enduring native American warrior culture, commodity foods, "rez dogs", harsh winters, and neighbors, as well as the social and political forces that shape the Pine Ridge native american community. Keeping Heart On Pine Ridge is especially recommended reading for students of 20th Century Native American Studies, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in contemporary indian life and culture on an American reservation.

A useful corrective to official versions of feminism

I strongly disagree with the reviewer who gives Wagner's book only 1 star. While the book is by no means flawless, it also has important strengths. Wagner offers an accessible history of one small portion of feminism and corrects the mistaken assumption that feminism is a "white women's" idea and movement.