A review by pomoevareads
Last Standing Woman by Winona LaDuke

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Thank you to @highwaterpress and @zgstories / @zgreads for a copy of Last Standing Woman.

LaDuke has written an epic fictional story based on very real events. The story centres on the White Earth People of Minnesota. Much like the causes dear to the author’s heart, Last Standing Woman shares a disgraceful history of land and water theft, excessive hunting causing dwindling buffalo populations, residential schools, disruption to graves and artifacts and the prohibition of Indigenous languages and practices among other important topics.

This book took me several days to read. It is very dense and full of characters and important points in time. I took notes in order to digest the information. There is also a character map and cast of characters list at the back of the book. It reads like narrative nonfiction or perhaps meta fiction. 

I found the reading experience to be interesting and fell deep into the story. The cyclical story telling pattern that mirrors Indigenous life was clear and educational in the sense that it made me think of life and generations differently.

This is the 25th anniversary edition with updated naming language and the addition of more Anishinaabeg words. I would highly recommend Last Standing Woman to everyone and feel thankful that I have been provided a copy for my shelves.
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