Sarah Winnemucca

Melanie Freeman

English 48B

January 20, 2009

Sarah Winnemucca

Sarah Winnemucca, a member of the Paiute tribe from western Nevada produced one of the first written documentations regarding Native American life in her autobiography, Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims.  Winnemucca is remembered as an activist for her people, through a lecture tour she gave along the east coast of the United States.  Sarah was passionate in her plead for political assistance from the powerful easterners, in hopes that the land that was taken from her tribe would be returned to them.  Her autobiography serves as the first glimpse into Native American culture and the struggles they faced upon being ordered to move to specific reservations.  

"Ah, then you rise from your bended knees and seizing the welcoming hands of those who are the owners of this land, which you are not, your carbines rise upon the bleak shore, and your so-called civilization sweeps inland from the ocean wave; but, oh, my God! leaving its pathway marked by crimson blood and strewed by the bones of two races, the inheritor and the invader; and I am crying out to you for justice..." (511)

Summary:

The final chapter of her autobiography entitled, "The Yakima Affair" serves as Sarah's ultimate indictment of the American government in regards to their Indian Removal Act.  The other chapters of the novel do not contain the same passion and fear that has been brought out of Sarah upon hearing that her people must leave their home.  Her fear of the white people has been building throughout her life, which turns into intense hatred in the in final chapter of her autobiography. This quotation appears to be at the height of Sarah's frustration and reveals her true anger towards how her people have been treated.  

Response:

In this emotional outburst, Sarah uses irony to reveal just who are the true "savages" and who is the true "civilization" in the context of the Indian Removal Act.  In the earlier chapters of her autobiography, Winnemecca describes the Paiute culture as civilized, orderly and moral, all traits that are admired by the European countries.  She paints an image of a thriving community who is in constant harmony with the land until the intrusion from white settlers.  Winnemecca also describes her people as loving, giving and optimistic when meeting their "white brothers", but becomes horrified by how the white people behave.  

Sarah's description of her people portrays them as civilized, while her interpretation of white people is very brutal, dishonest and savage.  This flipping of the roles, or labels shows just how self centered the white settlers were.  They felt America was theirs for the taking and anyone who happened to land in the way was worth eliminating.  Sarah uses the image of a giant wave to portray the white settlers.  Strong, devastating and completely emotionless in regards to the Indian way of life.  Winnemucca leaves her readers struggling with identifying the true savages in this context.  Those who existed or those who invaded?