RUTH MUSKRAT AND THE SO-CALLED INDIAN PROBLEM

The Fight for Native American Civil Rights

by Jen Loren (Author), Rebecca Lee Kunz (Illustrator)

From Caldecott Medalist Rebecca Lee Kunz and award-winning filmmaker and TV host Jen Loren comes a sweeping biography of a singular woman at the heart of the movement for Native American civil rights in the 20th century. The “Indian Problem”—that was the term used by the government in the 19th and 20th centuries. What to do with the hundreds of Native nations and tribes in and around the United States? When the goal wasn’t destruction, it was assimilation. But Native people had their own plans—and one Cherokee woman, Ruth Muskrat Bronson, helped lead that charge. A poet, educator, and activist, Ruth knew that Native Americans could and should fight for their civil rights while still retaining their tribal identities. Speaking in front of the President to gain Native citizenship, penning groundbreaking poems and books, founding and leading the National Congress of American Indians, she left a legacy that still blazes brightly today.

Sisters Rebecca Lee Kunz and Jen Loren—both nieces of Ruth and citizens of the Cherokee Nation—bring that legacy and the wider story of the Native American civil rights movement to richly imagined life.

ADVANCE REVIEWS:

“Sensitive, perceptive, and driven, Muskrat made it her life’s mission to learn as much as she could to bring about meaningful change for her people. Award-winning illustrator Kunz—who is a sister to author Loren and great-niece of the subject herself—incorporates hybrid and traditional Cherokee symbols throughout her stunning mixed-media collage illustrations... Fascinating and inspiring... [An] important, beautiful biography of an unsung Cherokee heroine.” —SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, Starred Review

“This inspiring narrative is filled with rich cultural visuals and textured mixed-media collage... Robust back matter, including notes from the author and illustrator, a timeline, glossary, study guide, and additional resources, rounds out this moving portrait of a vital figure.” —BOOKLIST, Starred Review

“Distinctive illustrations with a scrapbook feel interweave past and present scenes with Cherokee syllabary and symbols. It adds up to a carefully layered, encyclopedic history of an undercelebrated figure whose contributions changed perception and legislation.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY