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Sarah Winnemucca was born near Humboldt Lake in present day Nevada. She was born into the Paiute tribe and was originally given the name, Thocmetony. This name translates into "shell flower".
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Sarah Winnemucca's Life
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Sarah Winnemucca was taken to live in central California with her grandfather. She learned many languages over the next seven years. These included English, Spanish, and several Native American dialects.
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Sarah eventually moved to Nevada after living in California for some time. When returning to Nevada she lived briefly with a white family. With this family she adopted the name she now is known for, Sarah.
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Sarah's grandfather pleaded that she and her sister would attend the Academy of Notre Dame in San Jose. Sarah was sent to California to attend a boarding school where in 3 weeks she was dismissed because white parents did not want their children together.
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Sarah returned to Nevada once again after leaving the boarding school in California. She soon found out that most of her family and tribe had died from the start of the Paiute War. She realized she wanted to do something about it.
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Sarah wanted to make peace between the Native Americans and the U.S. government. Her language skills would soon come in hand. She became an interpreter for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Ft. McDermitt.
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Sarah married her first identifiable husband, Lieutenant E. C. Bartlett. She later divorced him because of his drinking problems. During Sarah's life she would have up to four husbands.
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Sarah made countless efforts towards making peace between the U.S. government and the Paiute tribe. Although still, her tribe was relocated to a reservation in Eastern Oregon. The reservation was named "Malhuer", the french word for "misfortune".
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Sarah was the interpreter for the U.S. governments Indian agent for four years. She lost her job when a hostile replacement came in for the job. She was upset knowing that she could not be of use to them anymore.
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The Bannock War was starting and many members of Sarah's tribe were being held hostage. She tried to help rescue, but her tribe was furthermore wiped out due to disease and mistreatment. Sarah wanted to help.
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Sarah soon gave many lectures and speeches about the mistreatment of her tribe. She was determined to turn things around. Using her many language skills she was able to get the message out.
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Sarah Winnemucca passes at Henry's Lake, Nevada. The cause of death was due to her illness of tuberculosis. She died as an extremely important figure to making Native American rights recognized and respected.
