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mr_cain's review against another edition
challenging
informative
fast-paced
5.0
one of my favorite books to this day.
sausome's review against another edition
3.0
My 87 year old grandma sent me this book after reading it for a book group being so shocked and dismayed at how the U.S. Government has treated the Native Americans and that information is never shared or taught. Of course, I agree, and this book was an interesting and very accessible history of Native American women across several generations.
arcookson's review against another edition
4.0
“They wanted information about the past, they said, because they needed it to build a better future.”
Part biography, part novelization, McBride tells the stories of four Penobscot women called Molly. In her own words, the book is “an interpretation of Wabanaki Indian history grounded in historical and ethnographic documentation.”
Women, particularly Native American women, are too often missing from the historical records which makes telling their stories more challenging. I appreciate McBride’s approach to this problem and the result in Women of the Dawn is a series of compelling stories about four remarkable women.
Part biography, part novelization, McBride tells the stories of four Penobscot women called Molly. In her own words, the book is “an interpretation of Wabanaki Indian history grounded in historical and ethnographic documentation.”
Women, particularly Native American women, are too often missing from the historical records which makes telling their stories more challenging. I appreciate McBride’s approach to this problem and the result in Women of the Dawn is a series of compelling stories about four remarkable women.
with_drea's review against another edition
5.0
This was important for me to read. I know very little about the indigenous populations of North America in general, and even less so about the Wabanaki tribe in particular. It’s novelized, so there’s an air of fiction to it, but the information is based in solid research and it puts me in mind of how I’d like to write a book like this of my own, someday.
aprileclecticbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
The lives of four Native American women spanning 300 years told speculative at times but with as much historical research and care to accuracy to make it seem like an interview was done with each of them. Each was strong women struggling to be independent and hold on to their culture while more of the land and their way of life changed. She did a good job of making them live again.
guardyanangel's review
5.0
This was important for me to read. I know very little about the indigenous populations of North America in general, and even less so about the Wabanaki tribe in particular. It’s novelized, so there’s an air of fiction to it, but the information is based in solid research and it puts me in mind of how I’d like to write a book like this of my own, someday.
jenniferdavislance's review
4.0
A must-read if you reside in or visit Maine, this chronicle of four Wabanaki women draws a detailed picture of the lives of the people we usurped when colonialism hit the state of Maine. McBride is excellent at focusing the reader on the humanity beneath the stereotypes and broader societal misconceptions of American Indian culture. She also carefully reveals the unique role of the women in Wabanaki life, and particularly the effect of their loss of family, lifestyle, and land. If anything, seeing that someone quite different from myself (and the average Mainer) in terms of ethnicity and era, still feels the same urges for love and family, nature and connection, fame and success, as anyone else on the planet is a hopeful connection. And the strength of will and body exhibited by the 4 Mollys (Molly Mathilde, Molly Ockett, Molly Molasses, and Molly Dellis) is awe-inspiring. I was left with one question, however, and that is: how is the Maine educational system fulfilling the 2001 legislature requiring the incorporation of Wabanaki history into the k-12 curriculum?
Consider viewing the documentary Dawnland, addressing the removal of Wabanaki children from their homes by child welfare workers.
Consider viewing the documentary Dawnland, addressing the removal of Wabanaki children from their homes by child welfare workers.
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