The Moccasin Maker - Softcover

Johnson, E. Pauline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0816509107 ISBN 13: 9780816509102

Publisher: University of Arizona Press, 1987

Synopsis

These twelve stories offer a look at Native American women

About this title

About the Author:

E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) was a Native advocate of part-Mohawk ancestry, an independent woman during the period of first-wave feminism, a Canadian nationalist who also advocated strengthening the link to imperial England, a popular and versatile prose writer, and one of modern Canada's best-selling poets.

Review:

E. Pauline Johnson, the daughter of a Mohawk Chief and an English woman, was born in Canada in 1861. Moccasin Maker opens with the life story of the author's mother, Lydia. The stories that follow concern what it means to be Indian in a country conquered by the British. "The Tenas Klootchman" (girl-baby in Chinook) is the touching, true story of Maarda, an Indian woman whose beautifully woven baby basket sits empty after her infant dies, and a sick white widow-woman whom Maarda finds carrying a strong, healthy infant girl "rolled in a shawl." While Maarda cares for the woman and child, the empty basket haunts her: "she seemed to see a wee flower face looking up at her like the blossom of a russet-brown pansy." In addition to lovely prose and elegant plot twists, this collection is particularly stunning for the honor and respect it pays to the birth cultures of the author. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0816509107
• ISBN 13: 9780816509102
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 267