Spirit Moves - the story of six generations of Native Women

Contents

By Loree Boyd
Published New World Library, 1996
Paperback 437 pages, great reading copy

In this autobiographical memoir, Boyd, a Cree/Blackfoot Metis American who works in the development and production of programming for television and film, comes to terms with her childhood by portraying six generations of her family. Her evocative stories about the lives of her great-grandmother, Margaret; her grandmother, Anne; and her mother, Silversong, are poetic and thought-provoking. "It would not be an overstatement to say I was often in awe of them," the author writes, "when I considered the courage, determination, and spirit that not only enabled them to survive . . . but to go that one step further." Boyd tells about prejudice against Native Americans, physical abuse, and the cultural destruction of her people. While researching this work, she discovered that both her grandmother and mother had sworn vows of silence to protect her. Her stories about the endurance of these women give readers a strong model of a family determined to survive. Recommended for women's and Native American studies