Sarah Winnemucca

Sarah Winnemucca was a prominent Native author, educator, and activist. Born Thocmetony (Shell Flower) to a prominent Paiute family, she grew up caught between Native and white American cultures.

Her grandfather thought it important that her and her siblings learn the language and culture of the rapidly changing country. By age 14, she could speak 5 languages, three Native languages, English, and Spanish. She found work translating between these languages and cultures but struggled to find comfort within any of them.

In her work with the US government, she advocated fiercely for her Native community. She spoke out against the forced removal of Native people from their land. When the government listened and agreed to make changes, she would relay those promises back to her people. More often than not, the government broke these promises. And some in her community distrusted her because of it.

In 1883, she became the first Native woman to publish an autobiography. Her book "Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims" critiques white American culture and recounts the horrible treatment of Native people in this country. She devoted 2 chapters detailing white men's rape of Native women and girls, which was the catalyst for the Pyramid Lake War of 1860 and the Bannock War of 1878.

In addition to her advocacy work, Sarah was also a teacher and ran a boarding school for Native children. Through her work, she aimed to preserve Paiute culture in a time when assimilationist policies were trying to do the opposite.