Atomic Farmgirl: The Betrayal of Chief Qualchan, the Appaloosa, and Me by Teri Hein (review)

BOOK REV IEWS 2 7 7 ture o n th e W est, h e visited Id ah o, learn ed ab ou t th e N ez P erces, an d b egan research in g th eir past. H is n ew in terest led to a n u m b er o f popu lar an d criti­ cally acclaim ed h istories o f In d ian s, an d th e k n ow ledge h e acqu ired from h is r esearch an d from h is frien dsh ips w ith m an y In d ian s com p elled h im to call for th e em pow erm en t o f N at iv e A m er ican s. Even tu ally, h e w as in stru m en tal in th e fo u n d ation o f th e N at io n al M u seu m o f th e A m er ican In dian , Sm ith so n ian In stitu tion . R ecogn ized as a lead in g au th ority o n In d ian s an d th e W est, h e w as h on or ed for h is ach ievem en ts by election to th e presid en cy o f th e W estern H istory A sso ciatio n . P erh aps n o t a w estern er by an y d efin ition th at requ ires year-rou n d resi­ d en ce, Jo sep h y surely h as ear n ed th e title if th e p ath o f h is dream s an d h is w orks is con sid ered . H is m em oir tak es its p lace in th e W est’s literatu re as th e story o f an ad o pted so n w h o fou n d in th e region n ot on ly h is h ear t ’s h o m e bu t also th e locu s o f h is life’ s in terest. N o t a con fession al b oo k th at sh ares in tim a­ cies an d d iscloses secrets, A W alk t o w ard O re g o n tells h ow Jo sep h y ’s dream o f w esterin g p u lled h im ou t o f th e con v en tio n al th ou gh t o f h is tim e an d h elp ed h im to b ecom e an im p assion ed ad v ocate for In d ian s an d th e W est’s w ildern ess. A t o m ic F a r m g ir l: T h e B e t r a y a l o f C h ie f Q u a le h an , t h e A p p alo o sa, an d M e . By T er i H ein . G o ld o n , C o lo .: Fu lcr u m P r ess, 2 0 0 0 . 255 p a ge s, $ 2 2 .9 5 . R e v ie w e d b y Su sa n K o llin M o n ta n a St a t e U n iver sity , Bo zem an Teri H ein ’s n arrative ab ou t grow in g up o n a w h eat farm in th e P alou se Valley in easter n W ash in gton du rin g th e 1950s an d ’60s ch r on icles th e exp e­ rien ces o f h er com m u n ity as it stru ggles again st n u m erou s b ou ts o f can cer an d oth er ailm en ts. In d etailin g a so cial an d n atu r al h istory o f...