Searching for Chipeta: The Story of a Ute and Her People

As the author of Searching for Chipeta, I can say that writing this book was one of the greatest experiences of my life. From its beginning--a dream in April 2000, this book has come full circle. I met with Chipeta's great, great grandson, Roland McCook, a Northern Ute; and C. J. Brafford, (Oglala Sioux) Director of the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose, Colorado to learn about Chipeta's mysterious past. After four years of research, over 5000 miles of travel throughout Colorado and Utah, I am confident of my facts. Roland McCook has endorsed this book, and royalties are going to support preservation of Ute lands and culture. I will always be grateful to Chipeta, her husband Ouray, and to her ancestors who opened their hearts and minds to this project. This book was written for children, that they might learn about the Ute people and their amazing past.

Searching for Chipeta is a wonderful story about a courageous and wise woman's journey, the hard life she shared with her husband, Ouray, and her struggle to keep her homelands. The author packed a wealth of Indian lore, research and mystique into this story, and after reading through it once, I read it again. Wanting to know more about the culture, the life of this brave human being and her people. I look forward to reading more of Chipeta's mysterious life. This work is poignant; a human-interest story of hope weaving its way through the tapestry of despair, challenge and defeat--and I find myself wanting to know more of what life must be like in that day and time for a Ute Indian woman called, Chipeta. Chipeta is an exceptional role model. If one of those state dinenrs were held were you choose to dine with someone you admire, I would ask for Chipeta to sit on one side, and Ouray on the other.

This book, written for children, was very thoughtfully done. In the space allotted, the author does an excellent job of vividly illustrating not only the life of a woman who should certainly be admired, but the lives of the Ute people as well. As someone who works with children in relation to learning about history on a regular basis, I can see that the value in this piece lies in the fact that it makes history interesting and tangible to kids who are all too often apathetic to most if not all of that which came before them. I must agree with the previous reviewer that the fact that there are sentences missing from the book is disappointing, but it should be noted that the publisher is likely responsible for that issue, and not the writer, who has no control over typesetting. It is hard to take criticism in that arena seriously from someone with so many typographical and grammatical errors in their own paragraph-long message, anyway.Hats off to the author and Fulcrum publishing for their continuing plight in keeping kids interested in our valuable history!