Life Among the Piutes:

Their Wrongs and Claims

By:
Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins
 Key Events Surrounding Sarah’s Life

May 28, 1830

February 2, 1848
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was passed which forced
The United States won the war and forced Mexico to
all Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River westward.
sell all of their land North of the Rio Grande for 15
million dollars.
1844
Sarah Winnemucca was born (Unsure of precise date)
1851
Trading posts were built on Piute lands.
April 25, 1846
US President James K. Polk asked for Mexico to sell half
1879
of their territory, which Mexico refused. Polk then sent
President Rutherford Hayes signed the Act to Relieve
troops to fight Mexico for this territory which began the
Certain Legal Disabilities of Women allowing female
Mexican American War.
attorneys to argue cases.
January 24, 1848
January 1880
The California Gold Rush began bringing thousands
Sarah Winnemucca met with President Hayes
westward.
regarding the harsh conditions of her people.

October 16, 1891

Sarah Winnemucca died from Tuberculosis
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Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins: Early Life

● Original name is “Thocmetony” (Shell

Flower)

● Born in 1844 in Humboldt Sink, Mexico

(Now Nevada)

● Her grandfather Truckee and father

Winnemucca were both Northern Piute
chiefs

● Sarah went with her grandfather to

California for seven years to learn English,
Spanish and Native American dialects.

3
Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins: Adolescence
● At 13 years old, Sarah returned to Nevada
and lived with a white family where she
picked up the name Sarah.

● Sarah’s grandfather died in 1860.

● Her grandfather's last wish was for his

granddaughters to attend a white school in
San Jose, California.

● Sarah went to California to attend the

school until she was kicked out for being
Native American, causing her to return to
Nevada.

● The Paiute War began around the time she

returned home.

4 Chief
Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins: Occupations

Interpreter
Activist
Lecturer
Writer
Teacher

5
Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and
Claims
● First known autobiography written by a
Native American woman

● Edited by Mrs. Horace Mann (only

corrected punctuation and spelling)

● Documents her life from 1844-1883

● Considered an ethnohistorical text

● Very successful in showing the hardships

Natives faced as it documents the almost
complete destruction of the Piute tribe

6
Sources:

Lewis, Jone Johnson. “The Story of Sarah Winnemucca, Paiute Storyteller and Writer.” ThoughtCo,
ThoughtCo, 26 Mar. 2017, www.thoughtco.com/sarah-winnemucca-bio-3529843.

“Native American History Timeline.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Nov. 2018,
www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/native-american-timeline.

“Sarah Winnemucca.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 12 Oct. 2018,

www.britannica.com/biography/Sarah-Winnemucca.