Life among the Piutes : Their Wrongs and Claims

Sarah Winnemucca (born Thocmentony) (ca. 1841-1891) was notable for being the first Native American woman known to secure a copyright and to publish in the English language. She was also known by her married name, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins. Her book, Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims (1883) is an autobiographical account of her people during their first forty years of contact with explorers and settlers. Although Sarah was initially terrified of white people, her grandfather took her with him on a trip to the Sacramento area, and later placed her in the household of William Ormsby of Carson City, Nevada to be educated. Sarah Winnemucca soon became one of very few Piutes in Nevada able to read and write English. During the Bannock War, Sarah worked as a translator for the U. S. Army.