Winona: A Tale of Negro Life in the South and Southwest (19902-1903)
is a novel by African American author Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins.
Originally published in The Colored American Magazine, America's first
monthly periodical covering African American arts and culture, Winona:
A Tale of Negro Life in the South and Southwest is a groundbreaking
novel that addresses themes of race and colonization from the
perspective of a young girl of mixed descent.
As white settlers moved westward across North America, they not only
displaced the indigenous population, but brought into contact peoples
from opposite ends of Earth. On an island in the middle of Lake Erie,
White Eagle--recently displaced after the dissolution of the Buffalo
Creek reservation--has built a home for himself and his African American
wife. Adopting her son Judah, White Eagle establishes a life for his
family apart from the prejudices and violence of American life. A
daughter, Winona, is born soon after, and grows to be proud of her rich
cultural heritage. When two white hunters stumble upon the island,
however, and when White Eagle is soon found dead, his family is left to
the mercy of an uncaring, hostile nation. Winona: A Tale of Negro Life
in the South and Southwest is a heartbreaking work of historical
fiction from a true pioneer of American literature, a woman whose talent
and principles afforded her the vision necessary for illuminating the
injustices of life in a nation founded on slavery and genocide.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins' Winona: A Tale of Negro Life
in the South and Southwest is a classic work of African American
literature reimagined for modern readers.
