Mary Whitebird

Mary Whitebird is the pseudonym of a writer who has long had an interest in the life of the States in the late 20th century. His famous short story "Ta-Na-E-Ka" was published in the early 1970s. In reality, Mary Whitebird is a very private writer and film-maker who was born in Arizona and died on October 2010 "Ever since I could remember, I've been interested in the American Indian. " I went to high school with a number of Seneca and Onondaga Indians, who lived in Rochester, New York. While I was in the army I was stationed in west Texas. I was the editor of the post newspaper, and had more free time than most soldiers- and more access on and off the military base. One of my friends was a Sac and Fox Indian from Oklahoma. With him, we drove to all the neighboring reservations (mostly Apache) and I saw firsthand some of the injustices (this was in the early 50s) accorded the Indians. I wrote some letters about it to the local newspaper. Since the army did not look kindly toward soldiers getting involved in controversial public issues, I signed my letters M. Whitebird. It was just a name that sounded generally Indian to me."

"I met a teenage Navajo girl who was having a hard time balancing her desire to explore the greater world and her allegiance to Navajo customs. From Jenny ( whose Navajo name was Granddaughter-of-he-who-Sings) I got the character of Mary Whitebird."

Ta-Na-E-Ka

"Ta-Na-E-Ka" is based on a ceremony of the Kaw Indians. which is where she was a tribe of. My husband comes from the northern part of Nebraska. I visit the Omaha and Winnebago reservations in Nebraska regularly, and there are few Indians there of Kaw ancestry. Almost no full-blooded Kaw exist; they were a sub-tribe of the Kansas. Tuberculosis and cholera wiped them out about 70 years ago. But I learned of the ceremony from my father-in-law. And, I wrote the story.

This was an author's comment on his short story Ta-Na-E-Ka.

The short story Ta-Na-E-Ka has received great feedback:

Here are two quotes from one of the numerous letters that the author of "Ta-Na-E-Ka" has received over the years:"Only an Indian could have written this", a Cherokee girl wrote from Oklahoma. And a teacher from Ohio complimented the author on dealing with this specific subject:" It's obvious that, as a woman, you are concerned with feminist issues." Of course, the author was pleased that he was able to convey both feelings to the reader, especially because he is neither female nor Indian.

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