Research Catalog

Title

Making a difference : my fight for native rights and social justice / Ada Deer ; with Theda Perdue ; foreword by Charles Wilkinson.

Author

Deer, Ada Elizabeth

Publication

• Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2019]
• ©2019

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Perdue, Theda, 1949-
• Wilkinson, Charles F., 1941-

Description

xxiv, 204 pages; 24 cm.

Summary

• "This stirring memoir is the story of Ada Deer, the first woman to serve as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Deer begins, "I was born a Menominee Indian. That is who I was born and how I have lived." She proceeds to narrate the first eighty-three years of her life, which are characterized by her tireless campaigns to reverse the forced termination of the Menominee tribe and to ensure sovereignty and self determination for all tribes. Deer grew up in poverty on the Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin, but with the encouragement of her mother and teachers, she earned degrees in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University. Armed with a first-rate education, an iron will, and a commitment to justice, she went from being a social worker in Minneapolis to leading the struggle for the restoration of the Menominees' tribal status and trust lands. Having accomplished that goal, she moved on to teach American Indian Studies at UW-Madison, to hold a fellowship at Harvard, to work for the Native American Rights Fund, to run unsuccessfully for Congress, and to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs in the Clinton Administration. Now in her eighties, Deer remains as committed as ever to human rights, especially the rights of American Indians. A deeply personal story, written with humor and honesty, this book is a testimony to the ability of one individual to change the course of history through hard work, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to social justice."--
• "A deeply personal story, written with humor and honesty, this book is a testimony to the ability of one individual to change the course of history through hard work, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to social justice"--

Series Statement

New Directions in Native American Studies series ; volume 19

Uniform Title

New directions in Native American studies ; v. 19.

Subjects

• Indian women activists
• Menominee Indians
• Deer, Ada Elizabeth
• Biographies
• Autobiographies
• Indian women activists > Biography
• Menominee Indians > Biography

Genre/Form

• Autobiographies.
• Biographies.

Note

• Includes index.

Contents

Growing up Menominee -- Preparing for the future -- Trouble at home -- Working for justice -- Joining the struggle -- Restoration -- On the national stage -- In the belly of the beast -- Sovereignty -- Still an activist.

Call Number

JFE 20-1240

ISBN

• 9780806164274
• 0806164271

LCCN

• 2019016534
• 40029573252

OCLC

1101656818

Author

Deer, Ada Elizabeth, author.

Title

Making a difference : my fight for native rights and social justice / Ada Deer ; with Theda Perdue ; foreword by Charles Wilkinson.

Publisher

Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2019]

Copyright Date

©2019

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

New Directions in Native American Studies series ; volume 19

New directions in Native American studies ; v. 19.

Added Author

Perdue, Theda, 1949- author.

Wilkinson, Charles F., 1941- writer of foreword.

Other Standard Identifier

40029573252

Research Call Number

JFE 20-1240