The Seed Keeper: A Novel

This book is a gem! Trailer alert: it is poignant and a bit sad but it does a magnificent job of illustrating the generational hardships the Dakota Native Americans encountered through to the present . I felt this book was written with great care and respect and the role of the "seed keeper" is a prominent thread throughout. I can't rave enough about this book and am so grateful to have read it.

This book was very good. I loved how it explained both sides of the story….white man vs Indian. The different people telling their piece of history was confusing at first…. I understand why she did this.

This book was interesting, but sad about the Dakota Indians and their way of life. The way they prayed, how they felt about seed, heritage seeds, growing food, animals, how they apologized to animals before killing them. Circle of Life. How these people kept seeds to be handed down to the coming generations. The Dakota Indians honored the land, protected the earth, honored and respected nature. Do not destroy the world, the coming generations will be left with nothing.This book was chosen as All Iowa Reads 2024. It is well written, sad, takes readers back over several generations and how hard it is to be an Indian. These people are proud to be Dakota Indians, want to be who they are, not who others want them to be.The book is told mostly by Rosalie Iron Wing and begins out in the country in a small shack where Rosie had grown up with her father. Her mother was gone, her father would never speak of her. Her father had been a science teacher, had lost his job. Rosie had been brought up Indian. Her father had nothing to do with others, white or Indian. He died when she was twelve. She went into foster care. No relatives were ever looked for. There were some, never told, but would be happy to have Rosie. The first foster mother was an alcoholic and mentally ill. Second foster care, a woman who treated Rosie like a servant and felt she was such a good woman. She was paid for keeping the girl. The lady loved money.Rosie finished school and got married at 18. She was working on a farm, but she and John, late twenties, felt alone. John's family was dead. Rose had a son, Thomas, half white, half Indian. Another confused soul.Rose found she liked farm work. Farmers didn't do this type work the Indian way, but some farmers used old fashioned ways which was much the way Indians farmed. Not far from honoring the earth. But events changed. There were ways found to make crops grow faster, sprays to kill insects, but poisoned the earth, water and people.The book goes back in time to 1862, the Indian war with whites. Much of the land was given to white. Indians chased off. Marie Blackbird, a great great grandmother of Rosalie was fourteen, her father was away at war. The small family was starving, the mother, Marie and baby brother. Marie the only one left was taken to a reservation. She had a blue eyed daughter, Susanna.Time passes. Marie Blackbird, 1920, is a grandmother of four, two boys, two girls. She and Darlene, about nine, were walking in the woods which they loved doing. When they returned to the home, Susanna and her husband were upset. People had come to the house and took the three kids and placed them in a government school. Darlene had to go into hiding. When the three kids returned home to attend their grandmother's funeral, they were changed, badly. Darlene had to go into hiding. She was treated well by an Indian family.Rosie goes back to the small shack where she had lived with her father after her husband died. The two felt they like each other. A lady, a neighbor, another Indian befriended her, brought her into an Indian group not far off. She fit in well, became proud to be who she was. As she should be.These people were disenfranchised by the United States like some other groups. The writer goes deep into Dakota Indian lives. I learned much.The book is set in southern Minnesota, the city of Mankato and the area around, the ancestral lands of the Dakota. This book needed to be written.

This book follows the lives of four Dakhóta women, Rosalie Iron Wing, Gaby Makespeace, Marie Blackbird, and Darlene Kills Deer. This book follows the life of Rosalie Iron Wing who was raised by her father and taught the ways of their people. At the age of twelve Rosalie is sent to live with a foster family after her father fails to return from an outing in the woods. Rosalie meets Gaby and they become fast friends. We follow Rosalie’s journey over decades as she navigates marriage, motherhood, and becoming a widow. Following her husband’s death Rosalie finally returns to her home, where she was taken from at twelve. Here she reconnects with her heritage and learns more about herself and the people she was taken from.This story will stick with me for the rest of my life. It is gorgeously and powerfully written, bringing tears to my eyes multiple times. My heart was broken and mended in so many ways. The characters were well written and were given such deep and rich personalities. I don’t know much about the Dakhóta people and the struggles they have faced and continue to face but this book shed some light onto it. Reading this has made me want to find similar books and some non fiction books surrounding the topics mentioned in the story. The only thing that kept this book from being a 5⭐️ for me was the lack of a pronunciation / dictionary key. To be fair I read this on my kindle, so I don’t know if the physical book has it or not. There were a lot of words I did not know how to pronounce or what they meant so I had to pause to go find them. Some words were explained definition wise in the story so that did help. Other than that I have zero complaints about this book. It was absolutely stunning.

The Seed Keeper wove a story full of history with personal stories showing the effect of what happened. I appreciate the honesty and the truth.

The book covered important and interesting topics that perhaps could have been succinctly summarized in a short story or article. I felt like I “should finish it”. I forced myself to finish.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Seed Keeper! I loved the way the story took you on a journey from the main character'spresent to her past, as well as her ancestor's, giving back story. It's also a timely novel speaking to biodiversity and better care of our Earth Mother, which means healthier lives for us all. Bottom line, it was very hard to put down!

This was really a great read. I could barely put the book down.Loved the different generations brought into the history.

Beautifully written yet heartbreaking story, like its characters the reader is taken on a journey through history, family trauma and love.