The Way to Independence: Memories of a Hidatsa Indian Family, 1840-1920

by Carolyn Ives Gilman

Book Overview

A unique exploration of the Hidatsa people, material culture, spirituality, and adaptations, through the stories of respected elders from more than a century ago.

In the 1910s, in the small Hidatsa settlement of Independence, North Dakota, Buffalo Bird Woman, her brother Wolf Chief, and her son Goodbird welcomed anthropologist Gilbert Wilson into their homes and shared stories and memories of Hidatsa life and traditions reaching...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 087351209X
• ISBN13: 9780873512091
• Release Date: May 2023
• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 2.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 8.4" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

The gold standard for ethnographic research & writing

Gilbert L. Wilson is one of the few ethnographers who did long-term interviews, object collecting, photographs, and more among a North American Indian Tribe. While a few of his professional papers were published along with a few children's books, the mountain of gathered work has gained little attention until Carolyn Gilman and Mary Jane Schneider did this now classic publication and traveling exhibit. Both women do justice to the descriptive passion held by Gilbert, his brother Fredrick, Buffalo Bird Woman, Wolf Chief, Goodbird, and other Hidatsas who contributed to the effort. Bottomline: If human life and habits interest the reader, this volume is a must have! Billy Maxwell, Cultural Anthropologist, Material Culture of the Prairie, Plains, & Plateau