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Book Clubbers, Issue #001 -- One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
December 15, 2007
Ciao,

Featured Book of Month
One Thousand White Women, the Journals of May Dodd
by Jim Fergus

December 2007 Newsletter

December Book Quote

What kind of God allows such things to happen
- May Dodd, One Thousand White Women
In this issue...

  • Fact or Fiction?

  • Choose Your Character!

  • Did You Know...?

  • Debatable Questions

  • Featured Recipe

  • A Little Something Extra For Your Meeting!

  • Book Club Queen News and Updates.

Fact or Fiction?

At an 1854 peace conference in Fort Laramie, a prominent Cheyenne chief requested the gift of 1000 white women from the US Government as brides for their young warriors.

Answer at bottom.

Choose Your Character!

Of the women that signed up to be brides of the Cheyenne warriors, who was your favorite character?

  1. May Dodd: the main character who was in a mental institution for having premarital sex with a man outside of her class.

  2. Phemie: the former slave who craved freedom and became the warrior princess.

  3. Gretchen: the large boned Swiss woman who wanted only to be a good mother and wife.

  4. Kelly sisters: the wild redheaded Irish twins who drove a hard bargain.

  5. Martha: May's timid best friend who helps her escape from the asylum and goes with her to find a husband.

  6. Helen Fleet: the chipper, English "bird lady."

  7. Daisy Lovelace: the prim southern lady who learns tolerance in the end.

  8. Sara: the young cast off from the asylum who was mute but the first to speak the Cheyenne language.


Did You Know...?

For many Native American people the 3 foods called the "three Sisters" are corn, beans, and squash.

Debatable Questions

  1. Why does May Dodd continue to write lovingly to her sister who aligned with her father in having her committed to a mental institution for the sin of having had premarital relations that resulted in children with a man outside of her class?,br>
  2. How can Capt. Bourke go from sympathetic religious man and lover of May Dodd to cold blooded killer of an innocent Cheyenne boy?

  3. Do you think the Native Americans were savages amongst each other? What about towards the White Americans?

  4. Did the White Americans have the right to banish the Native Americans off free land to reservations?

  5. Why did the Native Americans have a hard time assimilating into the White society after being forced onto reservations?


To discuss these questions real time with other online book clubbers, go to our book of the month club page!

Featured Recipe

FRYBREAD (Zahsakokwahn)-- Staple of Powwows, Symbol of Intertribal Indian Unity

Frybread: Just a couple out of hundreds, but all basically alike. The first makes 8-10 small ones or 5 big flat ones for Indian tacos.

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
Deep hot fat in frypan or fryer

Sift dry ingredients. Lightly stir in milk. Add more flour as necessary to make a dough you can handle.

Kneed and work the dough on a floured board with floured hands until smooth. Pinch off fist-sized limps and shap into a disk -- everyone has their own characteristic shapes.(Shape affects the taste because of how it fries).

For Indian tacos, the disk must be rather flat, with a depression -- almost a hole -- in the center of both sides. Make it that way if the fry bread is going to have some sauce over it. Smaller, round ones are made to put on a plate.

Fry in fat (about 375°) until golden and done on both sides, about 5 minutes. Drain on absorbent paper.

Recipe courtesy of Phyllis Jarvis, Paiute
Paula Giese Webmistress at http://www.kstrom.net/isk/food/r_frybre.html

A Little Something Extra For Your Meeting!

Spice up your meeting with authentic Native American Music!

Check out Native Radio.

Book Club Queen News and Updates

News Bit 1
Queenie B is currentley reading Saving Monticello by Marc Leepson which is the enchanting history of the iconic and famous home of Thomas Jefferson.

Out new this year by Mr. Leepson is Desperate Engagement - How a little known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C. and Changed the Course of American History. This is the story of the little known Battle of Monocacy which took place on July 9, 1864 four miles south of Frederick, Maryland.

Mark Leepson is a journalist, historian and has written for many newspapers and magazines. History Lovers get excited! Mark is coming to town! He will be at the Urbana Regional Library February 11th, 2008 at 7:00 pm.

To register and get directions go to Frederick County Public Library.

News Bit 2
We've added a general blog for any and all book related discussions!

We know we love to talk about books in any form or fashion and we had some requests to let you do the same!

Click here to get chatting!

News Bit 3
The book club pick for January is The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell.

Pick up your copy and come back to our book of the month blog.

 News Bit 4
We want your reviews! Newly added to our site is the Book Reader Reviews page. Read a great book and tell the world about it.

Click Here for more information.

Answer to Fact or Fiction - FACT. A prominent Cheyenne chief DID in fact request 1000 white women as brides at the 1854 Fort Laramie conference however, the request was not granted.

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