American Indian Stories

Blue-Star Woman is an aging Sioux woman who lives alone. She was orphaned as a child and has no knowledge of any relatives. She lives in poverty and relies on the generosity of her neighbor, who shares food with her. Blue-Star Woman has long struggled to secure rights to tribal land, which is difficult because she cannot establish ties to any Sioux family.

One day, Blue-Star Woman is making breakfast when two strangers visit her. They announce that they are her nephews and stay to chat with her. While greedily eating almost all of her breakfast, the men say they are sympathetic to Blue-Star Woman’s plight. They say they can help her secure land, but they demand she give half to them as payment. Blue-Star Woman reluctantly agrees, and the men laughingly tell her they “fight crooks with crooks” (98).

In time, the men succeed in securing Blue-Star Woman’s rights to her land. The tribe superintendent announces to the tribe that Blue-Star Woman will be allotted land even though her lineage is not documented. The tribe protests the US government’s decision to give away the tribe’s land without consulting the tribe. The tribe’s chief, Chief High Flier, writes a letter to “a prominent American woman” (101) with the help of his granddaughter.