Learning to Be an Anthropologist and Remaining "Native": Selected Writings

by Beatrice Medicine

This prodigious volume represents a landmark assemblage of the significant work of the legendary anthropologist and Native American intellectual Beatrice Medicine.

Included in this retrospective collection are Medicine's clear-eyed views of assimilation, bilingual education, and the adaptive strategies by which Native Americans have conserved and preserved their ancestral languages. The volume also includes Medicine's thoughtful assessments of sex roles in contemporary Native American societies, kinship and family structures, alcoholism and sobriety, the activism implicit in the religious ritual of the Lakota Sioux Sun Dance, and the ceremonial uses of Lakota star quilts.

Genres: Anthropology, Indigenous, Nonfiction

371 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2001

About the author

Lakota name: Hinsha Waste Agli Win ("Returns Victorious with a Red Horse Woman").

Reviews

[E. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the books for a class.

[bibliotekker Holman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bea gave me a copy of this book over a decade ago when she used to call me up from her home in Wakpala looking for articles and books that I would sometimes deliver to her house when she was unable to drive. I've been revisiting this in a search for what might be in the 21 boxes of her papers at the Smithsonian in preparation for a potential project to bring copies of some of it home.

This is a book of separate parts easily digested in chunks, so again, I've taken a few more chunks in search of what might be in the papers. Although there are some biographical and autobiographical bits in this book, a good comprehensive biography of the erudite and path breaking Dr. Medicine is really something that needs to be written.

[Frances Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew Dr. Bea during the last years of her life. We spent time on the reservation together. She was an iconic hero, and I have great gratitude for our many dinners and conversations. When I asked her to autograph this book, she wrote, "To Frances Harris Best wishes for further journeys. Bea Medicine." Her wisdom continues to fortify me and serve me well.