Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca

By: Deborah Kogan Ray

            Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca is a biographical picturebook that details the life of Thocmetony, or Sarah, Winnemucca.  Winemucca was born in Nevada as a member of the Paiute tribe in 1844.  As a child, she had her first encounters with white people under the shelter of her grandfather, Chief Truckee, who fostered good relationships across cultural borders.  Chief Truckee believed that education was the key to success, so he pushed Winnemucca to learn English and develop strong literacy skills.  Through these early experiences, Winnemucca became the voice of the Paiute people; she spoke out about serious issues including poverty, poor living conditions, prejudicial treatment, government corruption, and more.  She remained an incredibly influential, yet controversial, female advocate for the rights of the Paiute people at a time when the oppression of Native Americans through reservations/forced migrations was the norm in American society.

            Throughout the text, Deborah Kogan Ray highlights the fact that Winnemucca was a "child of two worlds- following the traditional ways when living with her parents, but not when accompanying her grandfather for long visits to California, where she lived with his white friends."  By drawing attention to this dual world, Ray creates strong characterization of Winnemucca and allows readers to identify with similar issues of navigating through multiple cultures.  Additionally, Ray details Winnemucca's role as a powerful cultural broker, in that she is able to understand the cultures and customs of both worlds.  One example of the text highlighting the different worlds is evident in what people refer to Winnemucca as; the white people call her "Princess Sarah," while the Paiute refer to her as "Mother."  I think this distinction highlights various values within each cultural group, and show her unique role as a participant in both.

            In terms of increasing authenticity go the text, Ray includes Winnemucca's own words, distinguished by italic text, throughout the book.  One of the most powerful messages shone through this excerpt: 

"For shame! for shame! You dare to cry out Liberty, when you hold us in places against our will, driving us from place to place as if we were beasts … Oh, for shame! You, who call yourselves the great civilization … I am crying out to you for justice."  

These words gave me chills because they draw on the readers humanity and serve to elicit strong emotional reactions to spark change.  Additionally, the book highlights Ray's research on the topic through extensive notes on Winnemucca's life and the Paiute people, an author's not on her legacy, a detailed timeline of her life, and a list of sources.

            The biography also touches on many examples of violence in the history of the Paiute tribe, such as in the presentation of the Mud Lake massacre.  I think Ray skillfully crafted the text revolving around this scene with a sense of the extreme violence and devastation involved in this event,l while keeping the text appropriate for children.  Together, all of these emotional connections to the text encourage readers to wish to seek justice as well.

            Most of the illustrations within the book are full-bleed, watercolor paintings with additional penciled details.  From the first pages of the book, readers are transported to Nevada through the brightly colored painting of the desert landscape.  Ray artfully contrasts the rich, warm yellow and oranges of the desert sand with the cool blue and purple hues of the distant sky.  I think the landscapes are the greatest illustrative feat within this book, as they are stunning works of art.  The people within the story are often portrayed with less clarity, as they are often presented with some unclear features.  There are also examples of real photographs of Winnemucca and various events to add a greater authenticity of historical context.

             Overall, I think this book would make a great addition to the upper-elementary classroom (4th grade and above), because it portrays a fresh perspective on Native Americans.  While we always seem to learn about Sacagawea and Pocahontas in school, this book emphasizes the idea that other historical figures had an impact and deserve our attention as well.  In fact, Ray touches on this briefly in her by commenting that Winnemucca "faced a world where the fate of native people was in the hands of new rulers of the land" to contrast the white man's "dependence on their [Sacagawea and Pochontas] help for survival" (Author's Note).  I appreciated the early feminism present within this biography, and I think it is a story that many young females would find inspiring!

Interested in reading Sarah Winnemucca's autobiography?  She was the first native woman to write an autobiography!  It is called Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims, and the entire text can be found online here: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/winnemucca/piutes/piutes.html