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Start giftingWoman Walking Ahead
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreThis book restores a little-known advocate of Indian rights to her place in history. In June 1889, a widowed Brooklyn artist named Catherine Weldon traveled to the Standing Rock Reservation in Dakota Territory to help Sitting Bull hold onto land that the government was trying to wrest from his people. Her efforts were counterproductive; she was ordered to leave the reservation, and the Standing Rock Sioux were bullied into signing away their land. But she returned with her teenage son, settling at Sitting Bull's camp on the Grand River. In recognition of her unusual qualities, Sitting Bull's people called her Toka heya mani win, Woman Walking Ahead.
Predictably, the press vilified Weldon, calling her "Sitting Bull's white squaw" and accusing her of inciting Sitting Bull to join the Ghost Dance religion then sweeping the West. In fact, Weldon opposed the movement, arguing that the army would use the Ghost dance as an excuse to jail or kill Sitting Bull. Unfortunately, she was right.
Up to now, history has distorted and largely overlooked Weldon's story. In retracing Weldon's steps, Eileen Pollack recovers her life and compares her world to our own.
Eileen Pollack is the author of the novels Breaking and Entering (a New York Times Editor's Choice selection) and Paradise, New York, as well as two collections of short fiction, an award-winning book of nonfiction, and two creative-nonfiction textbooks. Her work has appeared in Best American Essays and Best American Short Stories. She is a professor on the faculty of the Helen Zell MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan. She divides her time between Manhattan and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Emily Beresford is a professional audiobook narrator who is a nerd for books, no matter the genre. She absolutely loves all forms of literature, and that transfers to the listeners through her passionate performances. She primarily works out of her professional home studio with top notch recording equipment and software, but will occasionally travel to other studios for human interaction. Emily earned her BA in liberal studies from Green Mountain College in Vermont, with concentrations in creative writing, music, and English. In 2013 she was nominated for an Audie Award by the Audiobook Publishers Association and received an Earphones Award from AudioFile magazine. She works for several major publishers and voices books for many bestselling authors. She lives in the Midwest with her beautiful, fun family.
Reviews
"Pollack shows us that in the Victorian era, Weldon did indeed walk ahead of her time." ---Gateway Heritage Expand reviewsTracy Bookshop is proud to partner with Libro.fm to give you a great audiobook experience.