Publisher's Synopsis
The author of this book, in the prosecution of his duties, was thrown among a great many tribes of our aborigines at a time when they were little changed by civilization. The title of the book "Wah-kee-nah," is the name of a Yakima girl, a daughter of one of the chiefs, who in 1850-'55 lived in the family of General Strong. Her character and idiosyncrasies are told in a very charming manner; but the especial value of this book to the ethnologist lies in the fact that in all the chapters the author has brought together bits of information concerning the dress, home- life, and industries of many tribes. The reader will find occasion frequently throughout the book to take notes of material which is not accessible elsewhere.
-American Anthropologist [1894]
The portrait of a beautiful Indian girl forms the frontispiece of this volume on the aborigines of North America, their customs, traditions, and legends. The author, Gen. James C. Strong, "began to live among the Indians of the Pacific coast in 1850, learned one of their languages, and for six years traveled with and among them." This fact and his interest in the subject afforded him peculiar advantages in the preparation of this work. While it has much historical matter already familiar to us, there is a great deal that is new or freshly given concerning the customs of some of the Northwestern tribes among whom the author sojourned. If he had given more space to the ceremonies, characteristics, and habits of the Dakotas, Chinooks, and others whom he knew, the value and attractiveness of his book would have been enhanced. As it is, he has, in addition, a summary of Indian history from one end of the continent to the other. His sympathy with the aborigines and his sense of the injustice done them even from the landing of Columbus are constantly apparent. In his opinion the natives of America were quiet and peaceable, and would have remained so and transmitted gentle traits to their descendants if the treatment they received from the white men had not made them savages. General Strong's book is, indeed, a plea for the Indians, and he closes with some suggestions on the proper course for the United States government to pursue towards them. Wah-kee-nah, whose name gives the title, the lovely, faithful friend who saved his life, shows in the story he tells of her what an Indian girl may become.
-The Literary World, Volume 25 [1894]
