Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past

by Diane Wilson

A child of a typical 1950s suburb unearths her mother’s hidden heritage, launching a rich and magical exploration of her own identity and her family’s powerful Native American past.

"One day I realize that my entire back seat is filled with relatives who wonder why I'm not paying more attention to their part of the family story. . . . Sooner or later they all come up to the front seat and whisper stories in my ear."

Growing up in the 1950s in suburban Minneapolis, Diane Wilson had a family like everybody else's. Her Swedish American father was a salesman at Sears and her mother drove her brothers to baseball practice and went to parent-teacher conferences.

But in her thirties, Diane began to wonder why her mother didn't speak of her past. So she traveled to South Dakota and Nebraska, searching out records of her relatives through six generations, hungering to know their stories. She began to write a haunting account of the lives of her Dakota Indian family, based on research, to recreate their oral history that was lost, or repressed, or simply set aside as gritty issues of survival demanded attention.

Spirit Car is an exquisite counterpoint of memoir and carefully researched fiction, a remarkable narrative that ties modern Minnesotans to the trauma of the Dakota War. Wilson found her family's love and humor—and she discovered just how deeply our identities are shaped by the forces of history.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Indigenous, Native American, Book Club, Biography Memoir

232 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Diane Wilson is a Dakota writer who uses personal experience to
illustrate broader social and historical context. Her new novel, The
Seed Keeper, will be published by Milkweed Editions in March, 2021.
Wilson’s memoir, Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past, won a 2006
Minnesota Book Award and was selected for the 2012 One Min-
neapolis One Read program. Her nonfiction book, Beloved Child: A
Dakota Way of Life, was awarded the 2012 Barbara Sudler Award
from History Colorado. Her work has been featured in many pub-
lications, including the anthology A Good Time for the Truth. She has
served as a Mentor for the Loft Emerging Artist program as well as
Intermedia’s Beyond the Pale. Awards include the Minnesota State
Arts Board, a 2013 Bush Foundation Fellowship, a 2018 AARP/
Pollen 50 Over 50 Leadership Award, and the Jerome Foundation.
She is a descendent of the Mdewakanton Oyate and enrolled on
the Rosebud Reservation. Wilson currently serves as the Executive
Director for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance.

Source: https://www.dianewilsonwords.com/about

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diane Wilson's beautifully crafted memoir begins with the traumatic 1862 event that creates fissures between Midwestern families, neighbors, and tribes, but this is mostly the story of a woman unburying her family's history and trying to begin the healing after hundreds of years of cultural genocide. Wilson's open, honest voice gives us a seat in her spirit car. I recommend you take the journey--it was very educational for me.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this because it’s the new piece of the ninth grade curriculum, taking the place of To Kill a Mockingbird. I learned quite a bit, and it made me curious about visiting some of the locations in Minnesota where parts of the book take place. I wished I had a family tree from the beginning (because I read it in kindle, the chart is at the end so I didn’t know it was there until I finished), which would probably have made the back-and-forth in time less challenging to follow. A map would have been good as well, and I can see that being a helpful part of the supporting curriculum. There were lots of stories, individuals and even just single observations that would make for very interesting discussion topics, so it should be good for class conversation and book club reads. But when I had to finish it before my library loan ended, and I had a favorite mystery series waiting, I’ll admit it sometimes felt like homework to plow through.
If I was teaching this I might assign the chapters in a different order, all the historical before the first person memoir. There is a lot of good material to work with.

[Elizabeth Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dislike reading family histories; they tend to feel dusty and insular. Which is why I postponed reading SPIRIT CAR for years, much to my regret today. Wilson's dynamic quest to open up her family history leads her back to an ugly chapter in Minnesota's past--the U.S./Dakota war and consequent forced march of women and children--and deep into her own sense of connection and belonging. There's not just continuity between the lives of our ancestors and our own lives; there's an active lineage that shares trauma and strength. Wilson models beautifully how we can attend to our own stories by honoring our ancestors' stories, and in so doing heal our disconnect from the land, our misunderstandings about the intimate impacts of history, and our misconception that we are individuals cut off from one another and from the dead. This is an important book, especially for Minnesotans.

[Jenny (moved to StoryGraph) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diane Wilson did a superb job putting you in the shoes of women from her family tree starting with Rosalie, a Native Ameican, caught in the 1862 US-Dakota War. Wilson made her history and our shared stories come alive and feel personal.

[Nico Cartier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it a lot, especially the history part. The author’s story parts were kinda boring, but still a good book. I didn’t love how she put herself into the story of the past women walking the trail in the second to last chapter. It felt a tad bit disrespectful to me and kinda confusing.

[Emu2000 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read this book for school, thought I would enjoy it a lot more than I did. I didn't love the writing style, and overall it was pretty boring.

[Mmars · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book opens the night before the author joins a walk reenacting one her ancestors made under guard during the Indian wars of the 1860s in Minnesota. Wilson begins with a brief history of the Minnesota Indian wars of 1862. For a more thorough history I highly recommend 38 Nooses: Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier's End

Spirit Car is a personal history that lays bare the fate of the Dakota survivors and their generations beyond their internment at Fort Snelling. I found it amazing that Wilson could trace her ancestry to the late 1700s. The decimation of the tribe (especially the men during the Indian wars, when only women and children were marched to Fort Snelling) and other factors described in this book such as the importance of family ties and tribal records kept concerning land ownership and membership made this possible.

For example, she knows of the ancestor (one of many Olivers) who had joined the Renville Rangers and was among the Minnesota unit ordered to remain in Minnesota to fight the Indian wars rather than the Civil War. He was a half-breed, but he fought with the white man against the Dakota at Fort Ridgely.

Her mother, and her maternal grand mother and great-grandmother bore large families. And they were poor. The fathers, being half-breeds, always had trouble finding work - moving around much of the state of South Dakota. The reservation land was marginal for farming and subject to drought and locusts. Game became scarce. One thing her family largely seemed to escape was disease.

Although somewhat familiar with the role that Indian boarding schools had in destroying Native American culture, I was unaware of who was allowed to attend and how different the experience could be for 100% Native Americans and those of mixed race. Guess who was treated better!

She closes the book at the end of the reenactment, thereby completing a circle and a journey, hers and her ancestors.

Unfortunately, I had some struggles with the book. This may be cultural, but I am not sure that she should have written the first part of the book from the voices of her ancestors whose spirits told her their stories. But if you come to this book knowing and accepting that it will make for a better read.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not had time to return to this book since February vacation, but here are my initial impressions. I really like the idea that the author wanted to attempt to re-create her family's lost history. While I have a tough time differentiating between creative non-fiction and historical fiction, I appreciate the pains she took to return to her mother's boarding school and to retrace the steps of her ancestors. If I had been her teenage daughter, I would not have enjoyed that road trip much, I suspect. One problem that I had early on, on page 35, was when the author was referencing the Dakota War of 1862. She states, "Nowhere was it suggested that this 'outbreak' was the backlash of decades of mistreatment that included continual for settlement of the smaller reservations, broken treaties starvation, and the ongoing humiliation of being treated as 'savages' (Wilson). Since I was thinking about the journalist "Bright Eyes," and her efforts on behalf of another Native American group, I wondered whether the author's generalization might be too sweeping to reflect adequate research. I understand the gist of her message about the unfair tactics that were used to against native people, but I still thought about her assertion with a slightly critical eye. On page 78, when she refers to the high numbers of Native American farmers on the relief roles, higher in South Dakota than in any other state, I made a contemporary connection to the reality that the federal sequestration is today impacting Native American schools in a disproportionate rate than school with more resources. I will finish the book and respond again, once I have gotten some more pressing things completed...perhaps during the upcoming vacation.

[C.C. Yager · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first moved to Minnesota, I was surprised to find so many Native Americans here. I'd grown up on the east coast steeped in the history of the earliest settlers, the French and Indian War, and the American Revolution. Minnesota's history was unfamiliar and I knew nothing about the Native Americans in this region. I was curious and began to slowly educate myself. Spirit Car continues that education. Diane Wilson, through exploring the history of her ancestors also explores the history of the Dakota people in the upper Midwest.

Wilson writes in a straightforward way, in clear prose, and with a clear eye. She intertwines fictional imaginings of the people who experienced the historical events such as the Dakota War of 1862, a war I had not even heard of until I moved to Minnesota, with her personal experiences. She describes her trips to interview relatives and people who knew her relatives in the past, to see the land where her ancestors lived, and to piece together her ancestors' stories. The section on the Dakota War is powerful and painful to read. It sets the stage for an accumulation of grief that reaches a climax at the end with the Dakota Commemorative March in November of 2002. This is history from the point of view of the Dakota.

I'd recommend this memoir to anyone interested in Native American history and culture, or interested in the effects of White European settlers on native inhabitants, or readers of highly personal memoirs that combine history with the personal. An extremely well-written memoir.

[C.E. G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Minneapolis's One Read last year and I'm trying to learn more about the history of racism in my city/state, so this book has been on my to-read list for quite a while. And honestly, I think I would have gotten to it sooner if it weren't for that god-awful cover. Seriously, I was bracing myself for a boring academic text and was pleasantly surprised by how readable she made the history of the Dakota.

I'd heard a little before about the Dakota War (largely due to This American Life's ep on it) and reservation schools, but this really tied it all together. It's mostly just one family's story, so I don't feel like I have a ton of facts about the general history of the Dakota, but it put a lot more emotion into the tidbits I knew and names like Lake Pepin, Ramsey, and Sibley. It was also interesting to read more about how the government encouraged interracial marriage and blood-quantum requirements and how mixed race people were not always welcomed in either community.

Recommended for all Minnesotans, plus anyone interested in race and identity.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Random thoughts:

It was timely to have read Wandering in Strange Lands by Morgan Jenkins recently. I was primed to follow Diane Wilson on her journey to personalize history - the 1862 Dakota War and its aftermath for her family - similar to what Jenkins does for The Great Migration.

It was also timely to have read Worst Hard Times by Timothy Egan recently because it gave me background to understand a crucial time period in the life of Wilson’s mother.

I was surprised by the structure of Wilson’s book. I had expected her to trace a geographical and emotional journey as she researched and then in this context shared family stories. Instead, she leads in the first half of the book with a narrative of firmly-grounded, historical fiction. In the second half of the book, she shares her emotional, mystical/spiritual journey researching across many years and miles.

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not a book to waste your time on. This book is terribly written. The viewpoint changes frequently. So you do not know if you are reading from Diane’s perspective or that of a Native American woman’s from 1862. This book is so biased it is hard to find the real facts at times. This book is utterly boring at times and hard to follow. This book is not a good book for any 9th grader to read.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being white in Minneapolis makes this basically required reading. I can no longer walk or bike across the Mendota Bridge without thinking of this book, a marker for me of a great book.
Highly recommend, even if parts aren't meant for non-indigenous folks.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past" by Diane Wilson, published in 2006, for my S.E.E.D. Book Club. This is one of the more enlightening and enjoyable books I've read about the American Indian, specifically the Dakota, culture.

In this family memoir Diane Wilson, who is one-eighth American Indian but has been essentially raised in a white/Swedish American world, goes in search of her Dakota history. She begins around the time of the Dakota War in the 1860's. I found this particularly interesting, especially in light of the Sculpture Garden controversy over the installation of "The Scaffold" sculpture. (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/ar... and http://www.startribune.com/wood-from-...) I knew little about the Dakota War before "The Scaffold" sculpture controversy and my reading of this book. Clearly, the Dakota War was a complex situation, as is clear in what led up to the War, in the roles that Wilson's ancestors played in the War, in Wilson's telling of the events, and in "The Scaffold" controversy. It was not simply a good guy, bad guy situation. My opinion is not a popular one, but I felt the forced taking down of "The Scaffold" was censorship. Prior to this, I am willing to bet that most Minnesotans knew little of the Dakota War. The controversy with the Sculpture Garden piece was an opportunity for education and civil discussion of the issue - and it was, literally and figuratively, buried instead. This event was a part of ALL of our histories and needs to be recognized and talked about.

I appreciated Wilson's meticulous research and the use of the very complex family tree. Despite this, the reader has to pay close attention, as Wilson's work is filled with many "characters," and she moves back and forth in time. However, this work is much more linear than much of the more circular American Indian literature I've read in the past, making it easier to follow, for me anyway.

I loved the local color found here. Having just taken two courses, one on the history of the Summit Avenue area and one of green spaces in the Twin Cities, I made lots of connections with things I had learned and seen in these courses (ie; Indian Mounds Regional Park).

What I found most fascinating is that Wilson looks at the events she depicts here rather dispassionately and without judgment. Because she is biracial, she sees everything from at least two lenses, two "sides." I believed and trusted her as a result.

Finally, there were so many lessons for us to learn from this history. There are too many to mention, but a few that stood out to me include:

p. xii - "In the process, I discovered just how deeply our identities are influenced by the forces of history." Yes, we ARE our history. Isn't it ironic, then, that we don't seem to learn form that history and seem doomed to repeat it? This reminded me that it is important to know our history in order to more fully understand ourselves.

p. 10 - "I discovered a new truth: I was searching for the stories that had been lost from our family...As humans we need our stories surrounding us. We need context, we need myths, we need family legends in order to see the invisible legacy that follows us, that tells us who we are." BINGO!

p. 17 - "But white men did not seem to understand the power that comes from naming something, from calling forth its essence and giving it a name, so that this child, or this river, or this moon can be known properly." I think of the significance of the renaming of "Lake Calhoun" to "Bde Maka Ska"...

p. 32 - "They had signed up to fight the white man in the white man's war, but they would be asked instead to raise their arms against their own family, no matter on which side they chose to fight, in a war that would sunder their community. It was the ultimate contest between the past and all of the history and traditions that belonged to the tribe, and the future, as defined by the white's progress across the land, claiming everything in the name of civilization."

p. 129 - "...'passing' as white was one way to survive in a hostile, racist world. This was a new form of silence - one of omission - that promised safety for the price of becoming invisible."

p. 135 - "They set a fine example: work hard, complain little, laugh as often as you can. Cry only when you bury a parent or a child. No matter what happens, make the best of it. And always, always, place family first."

p. 137 - "But what if knowing the truth about the past would change the we live in the present? What would it mean, for example, if we were held accountable not only for our own actions but also for those of history - for the actions and consequences of our relatives? Mixed bloods have sometimes been accused of taking advantage of both sides - white and Indian - neglecting their community while benefiting from the government's handouts. This is a complex issue, a tangle of hard choices, cultural values, and the need to survive. I have carried a vague feeling of shame all my life, a feeling whose origin I can't pinpoint."

Highly recommended for high school and adult readers!

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because it's the book replacing "To Kill a Mockingbird" in Duluth Public Schools curriculum.

Some notes, and possibly points of discussion for those high school students (?!):

p. 137: "One of the reasons stories are lost over time is that they become entangled in shame and embarrassment, as if we can change who we are by simply forgetting who we were. It would be far easier not to mention the failing of my relatives, to pretend that this story has only one side, that of heroes and chiefs.

But what if knowing the truth about the pas would change the way we live in the present? What would it mean, for example, if we were held accountable not only for our own actions but also for those of history - for the actions and consequences of our relatives?"

p. 139: " Why do we need to know about ourselves, our ancestors, our history? What does it matter if I know what happened to the Indian in my family, when growing up in a suburb offered safety and the comfort of a full belly?"

p. 143-144: on going back to her family land on the Nebraska prairie: " I am, after all, formed in some small way by this land, by the trails my grandmother followed through the woods, by the sage-scented air she breathed, the wild turkey she ate, the long grass that brushed her ankles in the fields."

p. 177: "In such places, the decades that have passed since the massacre have not at all diminished the sense that the land itself, even the river, have been victims of this tragedy. These are literally the wounds in Minnesota's history that still lie close to the surface, even if their immediate details are no longer remembered by the descendants of those who were here. I've heard it said that "Minnesota nice" is nothing more than a thin veil across a layer of barely repressed racism, and sometimes I wonder if that accusation has its roots in the memories of places like this one. The details may not be remembered, but the visceral impression of grief and rage and terror has been imprinted in the bodies of all who were here, a legacy that has been passed invisiby from one generation to the next. Here on this land, the destinies of hundreds of white families and the entire Dakota people were changed forever."

p. 187: "...colonization meant that not only had Europeans stolen ancestral lands and sought to dismantle Dakota culture, but that Dakotas themselves had absorbed these attitudes over time. If historic trauma occurs that is never resolved, never acknowledged or forgiven, the the act of closing one's eyes to it is a form of collusion with the colonizer. Even if the event occurred 140 years earlier."

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utilizing a technique called ‘intuitive anthropology’ in part one of Spirit Car Wilson tried to construct what people might have thought, felt, said and done in various circumstances during and after the Dakota (Sioux) War which took place in Minnesota in 1862. These portrayals were based on family stories about her great grandparents and others who survived the war, were forcibly removed to Nebraska, and then allowed to settle a few years later on reservations there and back in Minnesota. Included in this part were the stories of the challenges her maternal grandparents and their offspring, including her mother had to cope with in the early to mid 20th century. To her credit the author’s renditions of these events was engaging with many poignant moments. I wish, however, that she had offered more than a broad brush description which sometimes skipped many years ahead in time.

Part two was a memoir about her efforts to recover this information. Included in this were her own struggles to integrate her own Dakota heritage into her self concept and lifestyle. The ‘shame’ she has felt as a ‘mixed blood’ (1/8 Dakota) was insightfully described. Ie, she and others had internalized the sense of inferiority with which mainstream white society has viewed Native Americans. Had Wilson utilized DuBois’ concept of double consciousness this would have been even more effectively articulated.

Similarly well presented were the trauma experienced by her ancestors, including her mother, over such things as forced removal from their homelands with hundreds of deaths; ongoing intense poverty; and placement, at times involuntarily, of children in missionary boarding schools. Although the author skillfully explained how this trauma was affecting even those of her generation, she could have made her argument even more powerfully had she employed the concept of multi generational trauma.

Spirit Car’s direct, narrative style of prose and many photos of the people described enhanced its readability. Wilson also provided two family trees and 9 pages of source notes at the end of the book for those readers wishing to do more research on their own.

As I was reading this book I could see how it informed her novel The Seed Keeper, which was published in 2021. Thus, despite its modest flaws Spirit would be a good companion for Seed.

[CTEP]

Spirit Car is an attempt by Diane Wilson, the daughter of a Swedish American father and a mother with Native American roots, to recover her family’s stories and trace her Dakota heritage. It’s a collection of family photos, oral history and her own research into historical events. She traces her family back to the Dakota War of 1862 in southwest Minnesota. After the war ended upwards of two thousand Dakota people, mainly women and children, gave themselves over to the U.S. government, marching over 150 miles through Minnesota to reach a camp where more than 130 died from exposure to cold and disease. She brings to life each generation and their struggle between claiming their Dakota heritage and assimilating into the "white" world.” The book also provides insight into government policies about Native Americans over the years. As a result of her research, Wilson chooses to honor her ancestors and to celebrate her Native heritage. In the last part of the book in 2002, she joins the Dakota memorial march from Nebraska to Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, thereby retracing the steps of her ancestors. I realized while writing this report that the author was not simply just writing a book about recovering her family’s stories and tracing her Dakota heritage, although she did do that …this book is about the search for identity, culture and her place in the world. I found details in the writing of the history that brought to fore the issues of colonialism, and assimilation. I think that I can say that this book serves to educate about some of the issues that immigrants and people from other cultures experience, when they find that they need to assimilate into a so called “majority culture”.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, and I think it is one people should read. We hear so much about the horrible and unfair ways that the Native Indians were treated, but this really helps you begin to understand some of the atrocities and see the Indians as real people with families and lives different from the old western movies. As a memoir, it is a good one. I would have rated it higher except for the fact that at times, I had a hard time following it. The author skipped from person to person, and it was difficult to keep the people straight and remember how they were related. Lots of genealogy was included. I wish I could have read it without knowing the Duluth schools replaced To Kill a Mockingbird because I kept comparing the two. Both deal with racial bias, but I do not think Spirit Car comes close to the literary merit of the other book. It is a shame to me that students do not read both books. Having been a teacher, I think there are parts of this book that students would get meaning from, but also there are students who would struggle to finish it.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was a slow starter. The first chapters were filled with lots of history that was written in the manner of a diary, recording process and items learned. Wilson has spent years researching the stories she shares here - a process at once cathartic and nostalgic. The scene that will live on in my memory is the recreation of the March of 1862, and the meaning imbued by each step of the trek. This is an important story. Part of American history that needs to be told to our children, just like the Japanese internment camps and the slaughter of so many native peoples as America was settled by European immigrants. We must learn.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, though it made me tear up from time to time. If you want an accessible way of understanding and getting the background behind the U.S. Dakota War of 1862 in terms of what led up to it and the consequences and impact it still has on the Dakota people today, this is a book for you. Diane Wilson is the daughter of a 1/4 Dakota mother and a Swedish father. This book traces her journey to rediscovering and connecting not only to her family history, but to the history of the Dakota people in Minnesota as well.

[Trudy Ackerblade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spirit Car is a very readable investigation into the 1862 Dakota war in Minnesota. Diane Wilson, of Dakota/Swedish heritage traces her family history which included the 1862 Dakota war. Diane's life is changed and enriched by what she learns about her Dakota ancestors. She begins a journey to heal after hundreds of years of cultural genocide which includes her participation on the Dakota Commemorative March in November of 2002.
I highly recommend Spirit Car to help explain the racism against First Nations in Minnesota.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I so enjoyed the author’s 2021 book The Seed Keeper. I was also interested because Duluth Public Schools have replaced TKAM with this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book but I would not choose it to replace TKAM. The author travels to various points in MN, SD, and NE to trace her Dakota family’s history.

I wish the nook has been told in chronological order; instead, as a memoir, the story is told in the order she learned the bits of history.

Also, very definitely, the book should include a map or two.

[Janet Meenehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so enjoyed The Seed Saver and hearing Diane Wilson’s voice on life, I was eager for more insights into her journey. This book is a powerful collection of research, storytelling, personal insights, and “intuitive anthropology”. I did find a lot of echoes and themes, so see the various beautiful and powerful threads that weave on her work. I did have to pause in reading due to the heavy emotion content and realizations of what trauma has been inflicted and endured. And that I finished this on the evening before November 7 is magic. Or not.

[Hjordes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read books in the past with the Minnesota history of the mistreatment of the Native Americans, and the 1862 uprising, that were much better than this. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the name of the best one, but I read it in the 1960's, so maybe it was put out for the centennial. I found a list of books on the subject, and will take the Website name along to book club for those that are interested.

https://www.dakotavictims1862.com/Fam...

[Ruby i · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Spirit Car Diane Wilson traces her family history from the 1862 Dakota war through the first commemorative march held in 2002. This book blends memoir and intuitive fiction based on the experiences of Wilson’s relatives during and after the war. Wilson captures the nuanced and differing perspectives of her family members, and tied their experiences into the larger effects of colonialism. This book grapples with the ‘why’ of reconnecting to the past, and how these past events impact today.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part memoir, part family history, part creative nonfiction, this book will punch you in the gut and leave you crying.

In a good way?

IDK, I'm white, and though I was born in Minnesota, growing up mostly in Kap'oza, living now so so close to Mendota, it feels important - imperative, urgent even - to engage with Dakota stories in a meaningful way.

[Miriam Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful “we”moir with a lot of nuance and varying storytelling styles. Some big life-changing moments for me. And yet, overall, the way the book is structured got me confused, especially during the second half, where she gave more background info on those she does “intuitive anthropology” about in the beginning. I needed more continuity, I think.

[Cassandra Healey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between 3-4 stars, I chose 4 because this is a personal story. While this is about the US gov’s and settlers’ horrible treatment of the Lakota the author frames it as resiliency which keeps it positive. We largely succeeded in the mission of destroying the native peoples lifestyles. The descendants of the War of 1862 are left to figure out that legacy.

[Karin Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spirit Car was well-written. The circular structure wasn't difficult to follow along with. Some of the chapters would be good to use in a high school classroom when covering the Dakota War. Wilson made me think also of my relatives and who travels with me in my spirit car.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book centered on MN and SD. I really appreciated the personal accounts and how someone might process their lineage and celebrate their heritage, both the challenges and overcoming them. I highly recommend this book!