author
Lucy Thompson
1856–1932
A Yurok writer remembered for preserving the stories, customs, and worldview of her people in one of the earliest published books by a Native woman from California. Her work speaks with urgency and pride, offering a rare first-person record of Yurok life in the early 20th century.
1 Audiobook
To the American Indian
by Lucy Thompson
About the author
Born Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah in Pecwan on the Klamath River, she was later widely known by the English name Lucy Thompson. She was a Yurok author from Northern California, and her life bridged traditional Yurok culture and a period of intense change and pressure from the outside world.
She is best known for her 1916 book To the American Indian: Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman. Written to preserve stories and cultural knowledge she believed were in danger of being lost, the book brings together memory, history, and a strong defense of Native life and belief.
Thompson died in 1932, but her work continued to reach new readers long afterward. In 1992, To the American Indian received an American Book Award, helping secure her place as an important early Native author whose voice still matters today.