Chapter One, A Woman from He-Dog Summary and Analysis

The chapter begins with a Cheyenne proverb that points to the strength of women being the root that holds a nation together. Mary gives birth to her son during the second battle of Wounded Knee in 1975, as bullets fly overhead. She is throne in jail shortly after the birth, and her baby is taken from her. Mary tells of several Indian women who suffer at the hands of white men. One is shot, one beaten and left to freeze in a snow storm and another is sterilized against her will. Mary herself is threatened at gunpoint many times in her life. It is not easy being an Indian woman.

Life for Indians in general is difficult. They have no jobs and no money so they beat the women and use them...