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"Oh God, here comes Esther Ross." Such was the greeting she
received from members of the U.S. Congress during her repeated
trips to the Capitol on behalf of Stillaguamish Indians. Tenacious
and passionate, Esther Ross's refusal to abandon her cause resulted
in federal recognition of the Stillaguamish Tribe in 1976. Her
efforts on behalf of Pacific Northwest Indians at federal, state,
and local levels led not only to the rebirth of the Stillaguamish
but also to policy reforms affecting all Indian tribes.
In this rare, in-depth portrait of a contemporary American
Indian woman, Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown document Ross's life
and achievements. At the turn of the twentieth century, the
Stillaguamish tribe, located on the Puget Sound in Washington
State, had all but disappeared. With no organization or system of
communication, tribal members dispersed. Desperate for help,
surviving members asked Ross, a young, well-educated descendant of
Stillaguamish and Norwegian heritage, to assist them in suing for
lost land and government services. For fifty years, she waged a
persistent campaign, largely self-staffed and self-funded. Despite
personal problems, cultural barriers, and reluctance among some
tribal members, Ross succeeded, but she was eventually forced from
tribal leadership.
Ancestral Mounds deconstructs earthen mounds and myths in examining
their importance in contemporary Native communities. Two centuries
of academic scholarship regarding mounds have examined who, what,
where, when, and how, but no serious investigations have addressed
the basic question, why? Drawing on ethnographic and archaeological
studies, Jay Miller explores the wide-ranging themes and variations
of mounds, from those built thousands of years ago to contemporary
mounds, focusing on Native southeastern and Oklahoma towns. Native
peoples continue to build and refurbish mounds each summer as part
of their New Year's celebrations to honor and give thanks for
ripening maize and other crops and to offer public atonement. The
mound is the heart of the Native community, which is sustained by
song, dance, labor, and prayer. The basic purpose of mounds across
North America is the same: to serve as a locus where community
effort can be engaged in creating a monument of vitality and a safe
haven in the volatile world.
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