November 2023 MBR The Native American Studies Shelf

The Native American Studies Shelf

Unrepentant Dakota Woman
Linda M. Clemmons
South Dakota Historical Society Press
https://www.sdhspress.com
9781941813485, $29.95, HC, 280pp

https://www.amazon.com/Unrepentant-Dakota-Woman-Angelique-Indigenous/dp/1941813488

Synopsis: Born in Minnesota in 1845 into a prominent mixed-blood Dakota family, Angelique Renville (1845-1876) initially learned traditional Dakota ways of life from her relatives while navigating the complex multi-cultural world of the declining fur trade.

At age six, she and her younger sister Agnes were adopted by Protestant missionaries Stephen and Mary Riggs, who did their utmost to erase her Dakota identity and educate her as a "proper" Christian woman. Despite the Riggs's best efforts, Angelique remained close with her Dakota kin, especially her mother and siblings.

After a frustrating year at a female seminary in Ohio, Angelique worked as a domestic servant for a Riggs family friend, ostensibly continuing her education. The outbreak of the U.S. - Dakota War in 1862 and Agnes's subsequent death at a U.S. Army prison camp changed everything.

Returning to Minnesota, Angelique turned her back on the missionaries, entered a polygamous marriage with a Dakota man, and moved with her relatives to Dakota Territory, where she increasingly distanced herself from the Riggs family.

In 1869, she took legal action to emancipate herself from the guardianship of Stephen Riggs and to seek legal redress against unscrupulous loan sharks who had illegally sold her lands. This was an extraordinary act for an American Indian woman of the time, and she faced a steep uphill battle in court.

Until her untimely death from tuberculosis in 1876, Angelique Renville lived her adult years on her own terms.

Critique: An impressively informative biography, "Unrepentant Dakota Woman: Angelique Renville and the Struggle for Indigenous Identity, 1845-1876" by Professor Linda M. Clemmons is an extraordinary account of the extraordinary life of a 19th Century Native American woman. An exceptional and meticulous work of exhaustive research and seminal scholarship, "Unrepentant Dakota Woman: Angelique Renville and the Struggle for Indigenous Identity, 1845-1876" is a critically important and unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists, community and college/university library 19th Century Native American History/Biography collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: As an author, Linda M. Clemmons works from extensive primary sources, including letters written by Angelique herself -- a rarity for American Indian women who are all too often silenced or ignored in the written historical record. Linda is a professor of 19th century American and Native American history and the current director of the Honors Program at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. She is the author of "Dakota in Exile: The Forgotten Stories of Captives in the Aftermath of the U.S.-Dakota War" (University of Iowa Press) and "Conflicted Mission: Faith, Disputes, and Deception on the Dakota Frontier" (Minnesota Historical Society Press). Her work examines the interaction of Protestant missionaries and Dakota families in the nineteenth century.

The Navajo Code Talkers: 50th Anniversary Edition
Doris A. Paul
Dorrance Publishing Company
585 Alpha Drive, Suite 103, Pittsburgh, PA 15238
www.dorrancepublishing.com

9798890270313, $17.00, PB, 171pp

https://www.amazon.com/Navajo-Code-Talkers-50th-Anniversary/dp/B0CC4D14KW

Synopsis: For five decades The Navajo Code Talkers has achieved attention and acclaim from well-respected sources. First published in 1973 over 50,000 copies have been sold to date. The book has been profiled on the ABC Nightly News and the CBS series, "An American Portrait." This new 50th Anniversary Edition from the Dorrance Publishing Company brings this informative study of the role Navajo Americans played in the Pacific Theater of World War II to a new generation of appreciative readers.

Critique: Originally reviewed by the Midwest Book Review when first published, "The Navajo Code Talkers" by Doris A. Paul continues to be 'the single most comprehensive account of the contribution of the Navajo Native Americans in World War II'. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, and college/university library World War II History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for students, academia, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Navajo Code Talkers" is now also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.33).

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review