Mourning Dove (author)
| Mourning Dove | |
|---|---|
| Hum-ishu-ma | |
Mourning Dove, c. 1915
|
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1884 near Bonners Ferry, Idaho |
| Died | 8 August 1936 Medical Lake, Washington |
| Cause of death | flu |
| Resting place | Omak Memorial Cemetery, WA |
| Spouse(s) |
Hector McLeod (Flathead people) Fred Galler (Wenatchee people) |
| Parents |
Joseph Quintasket (father) Lucy Stukin (mother) |
| Known for |
Writing books: |
| Nickname(s) | Christal Quintasket (her English name) |
Hector McLeod (Flathead people)
Joseph Quintasket (father)
Writing books:
Cogewea: The Half-Blood (1927)
Coyote Stories (1933)
Tales of the Okanogans (1976)
Mourning Dove or Christal Quintasket (Okanogan) was a Native American author in the United States best known for her 1927 novel Cogewea, the Half-Blood: A Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Range and her 1933 work Coyote Stories.
Cogewea was one of the first novels to be written by a Native American woman and to feature a female protagonist. Cogewea explores the lives of Cogewea, a mixed-blood hero whose ranching skills, riding prowess, and bravery are noted and greatly respected by (the primarily mixed-race) cowboys on the ranch on the Flathead Indian Reservation, more appropriately known as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation.The eponymous main character hires a greenhorn easterner, Alfred Densmore, who has designs on Cogewea's land (land allotted as per the Dawes Act).
Coyote Stories (1933) is a collection of what she called Native American Folklore.
She was born Christal Quintasket in 1888. Quintasket was a surname her father had taken from his stepfather. She also was given a native name, Hum-Ishu-Ma. Early in her life, Quintasket was forced to give up her language while attending the Sacred Heart School at the Goodwin Mission in Ward, near Kettle Falls, Washington. She forgot the meaning of her native name. She thought it meant Mourning Dove.
But she later said, “the whiteman must have invented the name for it”, after realizing that her people did not give women animal or bird names. She also realized that she at first spelled it incorrectly in English, believing it was Morning Dove. After seeing a labeled mourning dove in a museum, she realized the error and changed it to 'Mourning Dove.
Hum-Ishu-Ma (Mourning Dove) (Christal Quintasket) was born "in the Moon of Leaves" (April) 1888 in a canoe on the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Her mother Lucy Stukin was of Sinixt (Lakes) and Colville (Skoyelpi) ancestry. Lucy was the daughter of Sinixt Chief Seewhelken and her mother was Colville. Christal spent much time with her maternal grandmother, learning storytelling from her. Christal's father was Joseph Quintasket, a mixed-race Okanagan. His mother Nicola was Okanagan and his father was Irish. He grew up with his mother and stepfather. While living at the Colville Reservation, Christal Quintasket was enrolled as Sinixt (Lakes), but she identified as Okanogan. The tribes shared related languages and some culture.
...
Wikipedia