Dear reader, I must tell a little more about my poor people, and what we suffer at the hands of our white brothers. Since the war of 1860 there have been one hundred and three (103) of my people murdered, and our reservations taken from us; and yet we, who are called blood-seeking savages, are keeping our promises to the government. Oh, my dear good Christian people, how long are you going to stand by and see us suffer at your hands?
Cover image credit: Photographer unknown, public domain. Originally sourced from Wikimedia Commons.
Life Among the Piutes is an 1883 book by Northern Paiute author Thocmentony (Sarah Hopkins Winnemucca) documenting her people’s interactions with white colonizers. This is the “first known autobiography written by a Native American woman”, according to the University of Minnesota.
Both a daughter and granddaughter of Paiute Chiefs, Thocmentony worked as an activist, educator, and translator.
Read the full text on Archive.org.