A Note from Nancy M. Peterson

Nancy Peterson has written several books on the early days of settlement in the United States. She has a unique style of placing fact into engaging reading. Her 2007 publication Walking in Two Worlds: Mixed Blood Indian Women Seeking Their Path intrigued me just by the title. I think any "mixed blood" person will be drawn to it. She has given biographical information on twelve dynamic women who lived challenging lives while they tried to balance their two different cultural heritages. Here's a note Nancy not long ago shared with me.

Published with permission from the Nancy M. Peterson, who holds all rights.

I was recently contacted by a woman of mixed-blood heritage, who sought me out because of her intense interest in Walking in Two Worlds; Mixed Blood Indian Women Seeking Their Path.Linda Gruno, whose father is Creek and mother Irish, came across the book in the Regis University Library, where she works, and took pains to find me. Linda shared with me writings of her grandmother about the Trail of Tears and additional Indian legends. She believes others of mixed blood should know about my book, and, to this end, she accompanied me to the Denver Indian Powwow. We talked with women there and distributed information about the book, with Linda's strong endorsement. "I wish there had been a book like this when I was a teenager," she told them. "It would have been so helpful to me."

Linda wrote me that she "really enjoyed your book. I understand how hard it is to be part of two cultures. Unfortunately, one is never quite fully embraced by either one. For my Indian relatives, I am too white. For my white relatives, I am not white enough. For myself, I am just right. We are what we are," she writes. "We cannot deny all the parts that make up the whole."

Meeting Linda has meant much to me. Of curse, it is wonderful to have such a fan, but she is much more--a wise and generous friend for whom I am truly grateful.