Desert Hawk Books

 

Grandmother's Grandchild
My Crow Indian Life

Alma Hogan Snell

Edited by
Becky Matthews
Preface by
Peter Nabokov

 

256  pages
22 Photographs
3 Maps
6" x 9"
Hardcover

Quantity:  $25.00 & S/H

 

"I became what the Crows call káalisbaapite - a 'grandmother's grandchild.'  That means that I was always with my Grandma, and I learned from her.  I learned how to do thing in the old ways." -  Alma Hogan Snell

Grandmother's Grandchild is the remarkable story of Alma Hogan Snell, a Crow woman brought up by her grandmother, the famous medicine woman Pretty Shield.  Snell grew up during the 1920s and 1930s, part of the second generation of Crows to be born into reservation life.  Like many of her contemporaries, she experienced poverty, personal hardships, and prejudice, and left home to attend federal Indian schools.

What makes Snell's story particularly engaging is her exceptional storytelling style. She is frank and passionate, and these qualities yield a memoir unlike those of most Native women.  The complex reservation world of Crow women - harsh yet joyous, impoverished yet rich in meaning - unfolds for readers.   Snell's experiences range from the forging of an unforgettable bond between grandchild and grandmother to the  flowering of an extraordinary love story that has lasted more than five decades.

Becky Matthews teaches history at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia.  
Peter Nabokov is Professor of World Arts and Cultures at the University of California in Los Angeles.  He is the author of Two Leggings: The Making of a Crow Warrior and other works.