A poignant though too brief memoir by a prominent Native American
author of young-adult fiction. Sneve (The Sioux, 1993, etc.) offers
vignettes from the lives of her female ancestors. Flora Driving
Hawk, whom the author knew as "Unci," was small in size but
nevertheless a strong-willed and determined woman. An Indian and a
devout Christian, she was equally comfortable telling her children
and grandchildren stories from her tribe's oral tradition and
humming her favorite hymns. She was the granddaughter of High Bear,
a chief who fought Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
"Kunsi," Sneve's great-grandmother, was a Ponca who married into
the Sioux nation and became conversant with the traditions of each
tribe. Her husband, a Santee Sioux, was exiled from his native
Minnesota to South Dakota in the aftermath of the Great Sioux
Uprising of 1862. Sneve relates this story, and many others from
the history of the Ponca and the Sioux, in a
stream-of-consciousness manner that reflects the style of Native
American storytelling. Many myths from the oral tradition are
included, among them the tale of White Buffalo Calf Woman, who gave
the Sioux their sacred pipe. The author also gives details of the
tribes' folkways: food, the role of women, the winter count by
which they kept track of the years. Interwoven with the portraits
of these remarkable women and their people is the biography of
Sneve herself, who used information gathered from them as source
material for many of her books. She completes the family circle by
closing with the stories of her mother, who grew up on the Rosebud
Reservation in South Dakota, and of her own life. A genealogical
table clarifies the relationships, and historical family
photographs add to the book's intimacy. A heartfelt account of
Indian history and tradition by a masterful storyteller. (Kirkus
Reviews)
Renowned author Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve here tells her own
story and the story of her family. Also an expert quilter, she
recalls her grandmother, Flora Driving Hawk, who taught her how
storytelling enthralls and how a quilt can represent all that holds
a family together. Completing the Circle demonstrates the same
patience and attention to detail that Sneve lavishes on her
quiltmaking. A quilt should be handed down for generations as a
visible sign of love and tradition; this book has the same goal. It
includes stories told by and about Flora Driving Hawk, about
Sneve's great-grandmother, Hannah Howe Frazier, and about still
elder ancestors, Maggie Frazier, Pejutaokawin the medicine woman,
and the extraordinary Hazzodowin.
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