Ruth Hill

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 26, 1913, Ruth Beebe Hill was an American writer whose most famous book was Hanta Yo!, published in 1979. The novel was promoted as an epic story connected to Native life and history, and it reached a large audience at the time.

Hill’s reputation has remained closely tied to the controversy around that book. Later accounts from Nebraska literary sources note that the novel was fictional and that its publication led to protests and canceled appearances because of concerns about how Native Americans were portrayed.

She was also credited for the screen project The Mystic Warrior. Hill died on May 28, 2015, in San Juan, Washington, USA.