Medicine, Education, and the Arts in Contemporary Native America: Strong Women, Resilient Nations. Edited by Clifford E. Trafzer, Donna L. Akers, and Amanda K. Wixon

Abstract

In their collection of essays, Medicine, Education, and the Arts in Contemporary Native America, Strong Women, Resilient Nations, editors Clifford Trafzer, Donna Akers, and Amanda Wixon have gathered the life stories of twenty American Indian women who illustrate the significant roles that Native women have always held among their People. One of the strengths of this work, which focuses on lives between the late nineteenth- and early twenty-first centuries, lies in the breadth of its diversity: the women represent Native nations from California, Southwest, and Columbia River Plateau to Alaska, Northern Plains, and Oklahoma. The editors have structured their collection around three major themes—Women in the Arts; in Education, et al; and in Health/Medicine. Yet the versatility of these women often defies categorization. For example, the Piapot Reserve (Cree) folk singer and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie appears under the arts but could easily fit elsewhere. Essay collections invariably offer challenges for reviewers. Here the challenge lies in the profiles’ unevenness: some authors rely heavily on secondary sources, offering cursory overviews of their subjects; others draw on a variety of sources, offering greater length and analysis. This variation often correlates with the subjects’ prominence. Buffy Sainte-Marie, who has earned national, even international fame, attracts extensive coverage; a woman who has earned regional impact generates less attention and fewer sources for her biographer. The strongest essays here often reflect the subjects’ prominence and available source material.