Mountain Wolf Woman: A Ho-Chunk Girlhood (Badger Biographies)

With the seasons of the year as a backdrop, author Diane Holliday describes what life was like for a Ho-Chunk girl who lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Central to the story is the movement of Mountain Wolf Woman and her family in and around Wisconsin. Like many Ho-Chunk people in the mid-1800s, Mountain Wolf Woman's family was displaced to Nebraska by the U.S. government. They later returned to Wisconsin but continued to relocate throughout the state as the seasons changed to gather and hunt food.

Based on her own autobiography as told to anthropologist Nancy Lurie, Mountain Wolf Woman's words are used throughout the book to capture her feelings and memories during childhood. Author Holliday draws young readers into this Badger Biographies series book by asking them to think about how the lives of their ancestors and how their lives today compare to the way Mountain Wolf Woman lived over a hundred years ago.

Diane Holliday earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked for 15 years at the Wisconsin Historical Society. She co-authored Digging and Discovery: Wisconsin Archaeology for young readers and has edited several other Wisconsin Historical Society Press publications. She currently works for an archaeological and historical consulting firm in Tucson, Arizona.