Women of the Dawn

by McBride, Bunny

• ISBN13: 9780803282773
• ISBN10: 080328277X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-09-01
• Publisher: Bison Books

Summary

Women of the Dawntells the stories of four remarkable Wabanaki Indian women who lived in northeast America during the four centuries that devastated their traditional world. Their courageous responses to tragedies brought on by European contact make up the heart of the book. The narrative begins with Molly Mathilde (1665-1717), a mother, a peacemaker, and the daughter of a famous chief. Born in the mid-1600s, when Wabanakis first experienced the full effects of colonial warfare, disease, and displacement, she provided a vital link for her people through her marriage to the French baron of St. Castin. The sage continues with the shrewd and legendary healer Molly Ockett (1740-1816) and the reputed witchwoman Molly Molasses (1775-1867). The final chapter belongs to Molly Dellis Nelson (1903-1977) (known as Spotted Elk), a celebrated performer on European stages who lived to see the dawn of Wabanaki cultural renewal in the modern era.

Author Biography

Bunny McBride is the author of Molly Spotted Elk: A Penobscot in Paris, among other works. She is an adjunct lecturer of anthropology at Kansas State University and Principia College, and guest curator for an exhibit based on this book at the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, Maine.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
PORTAGE	1	(38)
Moon of Ripening Berries: Molly Mathilde (Marie Mathilde), ca. 1665-1717	5	(34)
PORTAGE	39	(30)
Moon of Freezing Rivers: Molly Ockett (Marie Agathe), ca. 1740-1816	43	(26)
PORTAGE	69	(26)
Moon of Blinding Snow: Molly Molasses (Mary Pelagie), ca. 1775-1867	73	(22)
PORTAGE	95	(38)
Sowing Moon: Molly Dellis (Mary Alice Nelson Archambaud), 1903-1977	99	(34)
PORTAGE	133	(2)
Methodology and References	135	(17)
Illustrations	152