Mary Crow Dog introduces herself as Mary Brave Bird, a Lakota woman. She says that being a Native American woman is not easy, and she describes how the government sterilized her sister, Barbara, and how her friend Annie Mae Aquash was murdered. The U.S. government and white society strip away Native Americans’ cultures and force their communities into poverty. Mary commends the courage and resilience of Native Americans who have fought to maintain their traditions and their rights.
Mary was mostly raised by her grandparents, as her father, Bill Moore, left Mary’s mother when she was pregnant with Mary. Mary counts herself lucky to have been raised by her loving grandparents—many Native American children are separated from their families by white social workers, which cuts them off from their culture. This is part of the government’s efforts to force Native Americans to assimilate. Because Mary’s mother and grandparents believed that Mary would be more successful if she assimilated to white society, they didn’t teach her the Lakota language, religion, or traditions. To learn more about her heritage, Mary spoke with community elders.
One of the ways that the U.S. government forced Native Americans to assimilate was by taking children from their families and enrolling them in Catholic missionary schools. Mary’s grandmother, mother, sisters, and Mary herself were all forced to attend the same Catholic boarding school, where the students were forbidden to speak Lakota or practice their religious beliefs. The children were undernourished, overworked, and abused.
After quitting school as a teenager, Mary was sucked into a lifestyle of drinking and fighting. Alcohol abuse is common on reservations, as the inhabitants often struggle with poverty and feelings of hopelessness—not only are reservations under-resourced, but Native Americans also face racism and cultural erasure.
At 17, Mary left home and started roaming with other Native American youths. Together they traveled across the U.S., drinking, doing drugs, and stealing food when they needed to. Casual sex was common among the group, with men often callously demanding sex from women. While Mary generally respects Native American men for their determination in fighting for Native American civil rights, she notes that they can be cruel to their female counterparts. Sexism has followed Mary throughout her life, from sexual violence to strict gender roles.
Mary found a sense of purpose with the American Indian Movement (AIM), which she first encountered in 1971. AIM received a lot of support from Native American youths and elders, the latter of whom taught cultural knowledge to the younger generation. In 1972, Mary joined AIM in the Trail of Broken Treaties, a car caravan comprised of many indigenous tribes traveling across the U.S. to converge at Washington, D.C. where they occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs building. Although the U.S. government didn’t agree to the activists’ demands, the event was still significant in that Native Americans had united together to confront “White America.”
AIM wasn’t just a political movement—it was a spiritual one, too. Like many Native Americans during this time, Mary deliberately sought out ways to connect with her heritage and culture, such as by practicing indigenous religions. AIM’s spiritual leader and Mary’s eventual husband, Leonard Crow Dog, aided Mary in her spiritual journey.
Mary also participated in the 1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee, which was a response to the violence and corruption of Dicky Wilson, the tribal president of Pine Ridge at the time. Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) and AIM activists occupied Wounded Knee for 71 days, during which they were surrounded by U.S. Marshalls, FBI agents, and police officers. During the occupation, Leonard Crow Dog hosted a Ghost Dance, which he saw as a means to revive traditional religious beliefs and promote unity between Native American tribes.
While at Wounded Knee, Mary gave birth to her eldest child, Pedro. Shortly after the birth, Mary left Wounded Knee and was arrested for participating in the occupation. She was separated from Pedro and jailed for 24 hours before she could reunite with her baby.
Shortly after the Occupation of Wounded Knee, Leonard began expressing romantic interest in Mary. Eventually, she agreed to marry him. Mary found married life difficult—she was expected to do all the housework in the Crow Dogs’ home, where Leonard frequently entertained many guests. Additionally, Leonard’s family wasn’t welcoming to Mary, as they didn’t think that she was Lakota enough. A peyote meeting helped Mary feel more reassured about her new role as the wife of a medicine man.
Mary shifts to recount the suspicious death of her beloved friend Annie Mae. For months leading up to her death, Annie Mae told Mary that she knew the U.S. government would try to kill her—they had a history of persecuting AIM activists. When Annie Mae’s body was found, the FBI needlessly cut off her hands to identify her. Although the FBI announced that Annie Mae had died from exposure, a second autopsy revealed that she’d been shot in the head, which suggests that she was executed.
Mary returns to describing her life after her marriage to Leonard, who helped Mary in her spiritual journey. She describes several of the ceremonies that Leonard leads, such as the sweat bath ceremony; yuwipi ceremonies, during which people can communicate with spirits with a medicine man who acts as moderator; and the Sun Dance, a ceremony in which participants pierce their flesh to help a loved one.
In 1975, two drunk men crashed a car into Leonard’s yard and began fighting with guests who were staying with the Crow Dogs. Two days later, the FBI arrested Leonard for breaking one of the men’s jaws, even though he hadn’t done so. Leonard had suspected for years that the government would find a way to falsely imprison him, like they did with other Native American activists. Indeed, it turned out that the government staged the car crash to create a plausible reason to arrest Leonard. Nonetheless, Leonard was charged and found guilty in a series of sham trials. Thus began Mary and Leonard’s efforts to free him from his unjust imprisonment. After two years, many legal battles, and local and international support and media attention, the judge on the case at last released Leonard from prison.
Mary ends the memoir by explaining that her and Leonard’s relationship has become stronger after he returned from his imprisonment. They have three children together, and Leonard continues to fight for the rights of Native Americans across the United States.
