Lost Bird of Wounded Knee: Spirit of the Lakota

In July 1991, the Pine Ridge Wounded Knee Survivors Association returned the remains of Zintkala Nuni (Lost Bird) from an unmarked grave in California to her South Dakota homeland. Former social worker Flood, who was instrumental in the relocation, has written a well-documented, powerful and chilling story of Lost Bird's brief life. One of the few survivors of the massacre, the infant was taken by Gen. Leonard Colby to be raised as a white child. Colby, a Nebraska lawyer, hoped to represent Indian claims; his wife, Clara, was an active suffragette who spent half of every year in Washington. Lost Bird was a lonely child confused by her identity--a nonwhite physically, a non-Indian socially. She was sexually abused by Colby, had two disastrous marriages, contracting syphilis in one, and was ultimately rejected by her tribe. Lost Bird spent some time with Wild West shows, drifted into prostitution and died an outcast at the age of 30. Flood's narrative grippingly illustrates the clash between Indian and white cultures. Photos not seen by PW. (July)