Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story

by S. D. Nelson

Overview

A stunning picture book biography of a 19th-century Hidatsa woman, from award-winning author and illustrator S. D. Nelson, that “is a lovely and graceful introduction to a way of life that persists despite cultural obstacles and the march of time” (School Library Journal, starred review)

Award-winning author and artist S. D. Nelson (Standing Rock Sioux) captures the spirit of Buffalo Bird Girl by interweaving the actual words and stories of Buffalo Bird Woman with his artwork and archival photographs. Backmatter includes a history of the Hidatsa and a timeline.

Buffalo Bird Girl (ca. 1839-1932) was a member of the Hidatsa, a Native American community that lived in permanent villages along the Missouri River on the Great Plains. Like other girls her age, Buffalo Bird Girl learned the ways of her people through watching and listening, and then by doing.

She helped plant crops in the spring, tended the fields through the summer, and in autumn joined in the harvest. She learned to prepare animal skins, dry meat, and perform other duties.

There was also time for playing games with friends and training her dog. When her family visited the nearby trading post, there were all sorts of fascinating things to see from the white man’s settlements in the East.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419703553
Publisher:	Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/01/2012
Pages:	56
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	890L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

S. D. Nelson, Maȟpíya Kiny’An (Flying Cloud), is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in the Dakotas and the author and illustrator of inspiring children’s books that celebrate Lakota and Indigenous cultures. Awards include an American Indian Library Association Honor Book, an ALA Robert F. Sibert Honor, and two Spur Awards from Western Writers of America. His original paintings are held in many national collections including the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, South Dakota State Historical Society, the Crazy Horse Memorial and State Historical Society of North Dakota. He lives in Cottonwood, Arizona.

Editorial Reviews

"Nelson's acrylic paintings and b&w pencil drawings are intriguingly interlaced with the photographs, contrasting Native American figures in blunt profile with harvest colors and background textures that mimic dried spears of grass, leather skins, and basket weaves."

Publishers Weekly

A noted Native American artist interprets the early life of Buffalo Bird Woman, Waheenee-wea, one of the last of the Hidatsa to live according to old traditions. Using material from his subject's own reminiscences, published by an anthropologist in the early 20th century, Lakota painter and biographer Nelson describes Buffalo Bird's village childhood. Each section begins with a quote from her own story. Born around 1840, "three years after the smallpox winter," the girl grew up in Like-a-Fishhook Village high over the Missouri River in what is now North Dakota. There, for nine months of each year, she lived with her family in an earth-mound lodge. She describes helping her aunts and grandmother with traditional household and garden tasks, visiting a trading center, playing with other children and her dog, and a Lakota attack. During winter's worst weather, villagers retreated to temporary lodges in the woodlands, where they ate stored food. The extraordinary illustration of this handsome volume begins with the endpaper maps and features acrylic paintings of the Hidatsa world reminiscent of traditional Plains Indian art. Pencil drawings and relevant, carefully labeled photographs round out the exquisite design. All the artwork both supports and adds to the text. An extensive author's note and timeline supplement this beautiful tribute. Pair with Nelson's Gift Horse (1999) for a broad vision of Plains Indian childhood. (notes, bibliography, index) (Informational picture book. 7-12)

Kirkus Reviews

**STARRED REVIEW**
"The extraordinary illustration of this handsome volume begins with the endpaper maps and features acrylic paintings of the Hidatsa world reminiscent of traditional Plains Indian art. Pencil drawings and relevant, carefully labeled photographs round out the exquisite design. All the artwork both supports and adds to the text. An extensive author’s note and timeline supplement this beautiful tribute."

starred review Kirkus Reviews

"Nelson's quiet, respectful tone capably balances the factual details of daily life in the Hidatsa tribe with the obvious joy and nostalgia Buffalo Bird Girl feels toward her childhood."

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

**STARRED REVIEW**
"This is a lovely and graceful introduction to a way of life that persists despite cultural obstacles and the march of time."

starred review School Library Journal

"As a writer, storyteller, and traditional artist of the Sioux people, his perspective is genuine and effectively portrayed. This book would be enjoyable for anyone interested in history, but would also be an effective resource in the classroom to support the curriculum.”

Library Media Connection

**STARRED REVIEW**
"The extraordinary illustration of this handsome volume begins with the endpaper maps and features acrylic paintings of the Hidatsa world reminiscent of traditional Plains Indian art. Pencil drawings and relevant, carefully labeled photographs round out the exquisite design. All the artwork both supports and adds to the text. An extensive author’s note and timeline supplement this beautiful tribute."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

**STARRED REVIEW**
"This is a lovely and graceful introduction to a way of life that persists despite cultural obstacles and the march of time."
—School Library Journal, starred review

"Nelson's quiet, respectful tone capably balances the factual details of daily life in the Hidatsa tribe with the obvious joy and nostalgia Buffalo Bird Girl feels toward her childhood."
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"As a writer, storyteller, and traditional artist of the Sioux people, his perspective is genuine and effectively portrayed. This book would be enjoyable for anyone interested in history, but would also be an effective resource in the classroom to support the curriculum.”
—Library Media Connection

"Nelson's acrylic paintings and bw pencil drawings are intriguingly interlaced with the photographs, contrasting Native American figures in blunt profile with harvest colors and background textures that mimic dried spears of grass, leather skins, and basket weaves."
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher